Facebook has grown to be the thousand pound gorilla in the social networking world with statistics to prove it, but even with that success they decided to make some big changes. These are the biggest changes they have made since their launch and there are big implications for businesses involved both in the short and long term.
Some claim that these new changes will transform social media forever. On the other side, PC Magazine reports that 86% of Facebook users don’t like the redesign. If Facebook’s new changes fail, it won’t be because of a lack of effort. Zuckerberg said in his keynote presentation at the F8 conference that they have been working on these new changes for the past year.
Summary of the Main Changes
There is already much discussion in the blogosphere detailing the specific features that have been changed. Below is a quick summary:
- A Subscribe button which allows you to follow people you aren’t friends with similar to how you would on Twitter. You can also set filters on what information you see from your friends.
- Easier ways to group people into lists with improved friends lists.
- A window with a constant flow of updates that floats on top of everything in the upper right corner called a News Ticker.
- Similar to a newspaper, you can filter the content on your homepage.
- Instantly and automatically share what you are reading, listening to, and watching.
- The Timeline has replaced the traditional profile. This video shows what Timeline will look like.
- A good general overview would be: Facebook Changes Again: Everything You Need to Know.