We've all seen it: friends or family all attend an event or visit the same place, and Facebook is suddenly flooded with photos from different people. Rather than have the content spread out over multiple profiles, however, the social network has now introduced shared albums, allowing multiple users to collect and display their photos in one place.

To use the new feature, users can select the 'make shared album' button on any existing photo album. That user can then choose to add contributors, who themselves can be given the option to add further contributors. Although it is possible to remove someone's ability to add photos to an album, they will still be able to delete any photos they have previously added.

Shared albums come with various privacy options. They can be set to 'contributors only', meaning only those tagged or with the ability to edit the album can see it. Alternatively, there are 'friends of contributors' and 'public' options.

The feature was the product of a 'hackathon': a chunk of time set aside at one of the various Facebook offices around the world for employees to work on their own ideas for the site or other proposed ideas. 'Hackers' are typically supplied with food and drink as they work on their project.

Some of the previous Facebook hackathon projects that have gone on to be implemented include full-screen photos, the chat application and even the iconic 'Like' button. Facebook's Paul Tarjan is responsible for kickstarting the latest project.

Facebook has posted a guide to shared albums, accessible here.