Facebook Goes Under the Knife… Yet Again.
I’ll admit that I’m not the biggest fan of change. Whenever Facebook rolls out a new design, I’m forced to pretend it doesn’t bother me, because come on, it’s JUST Facebook. Still, I’m not going to deny that Facebook is a significant part of my life, both socially and professionally, so when people start messing with something I’ve grown to know and love, it’s going to spark some serious turmoil.
Let’s take a minute to review the most recent redesign introduced last Friday.
What actually changed? You can now switch between two views, News Feed & Live Feed. Your News Feed is essentially what used to be in the Highlight Section, featuring select pieces of information based on your own/friend’s activity (measured by most commented posts, who you interact with the most, etc).
The Live Feed is a minute-by-minute rundown off all those annoying little things you thought you got away from with the old Facebook (i.e.: new friend updates, events RSVPs, recently added groups/ fan pages, etc). Both the News Feed & Live Feed can be customized to only show that updates you want to see.
Another noticeable change is the Suggestions tab. Rather than just suggesting groups/friends that you may enjoy, Facebook now encourages you to reconnect with users you have not interacted with for a while. This is by far my least favorite change of the redesign as I think it comes of slightly rude (don’t tell me what to do, Facebook) and I’m not alone on this one.
This redesign is getting both positive and negative feedback from users. Facebook explains that they hope the changes will make Facbeook a more valuable experience for you. In the end, this isn’t the last redesign we’ll see and it isn’t the first redesign to get negative feedback.
And let’s be honest. Even with all the negative feedback that first came about when the News Feed first launched, who can really remember what it was like without it? Maybe the ever-so-impolite suggestions tab really will work in connecting me with an old flame that I hadn’t thought about in years. Just one question: will I have to invite Zuckerberg to the wedding?
Tags: facebook, redesign, social networking
This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 28th, 2009 at 10:51 am and is filed under social media. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
October 28th, 2009 at 3:15 pm
Expect more as the audience grow and advertising and search partnerships are formed quickly! Fascinating. I personally like the suggestions — have reconnected with many people who interest me, had no idea where they are, and share experiences. And the ability to find links that point me to successful social marketing campaigns and cool programming.