Facebook Tweaks New Homepages in Response to User Complaints
As we reported last week, Facebook's users clearly disliked the latest updates to their homepages, and now, Facebook is giving in to pressure from its most vocal users. According to Facebook, its users were especially unhappy with the lack of filtering mechanisms for the news stream on their homepages, and yesterday, Facebook's Chris Cox announced that the company plans to tweak the current design in order to give users greater control over what updates appear in the news stream.
Better Filters
Besides reducing the application content in the stream, Facebook will also introduce automatic updates of the feed, so that users won't have to reload the page. Given how much Facebook pushed the idea that the stream was 'real-time,' we always wondered why this feature wasn't part of the original design.
Facebook also plans to introduce features that will filter out wall posts and other content that is directed to specific users, in order to make way for more content that was explicitly meant to be shared with others.
About 1.2 million users have now voiced their disapproval of the new homepage through this unofficial poll (only 80,000 left positive feedback). This also means, however, that an overwhelming number of Facebook's over 175 million users didn't register any opinion yet.
Will These Tweaks Help?
If Facebook were indeed a democracy, one million votes would barely register, and Facebook's users have always had a propensity for complaining about any change to their beloved service. Still, it would be hard for Facebook to just simply ignore a million irate users, though it seems like Facebook is not ready to completely backpedal and bring back the original design - instead, it is actually adding more functionality to the updated homepages.
Cox's post on the Facebook blog also doesn't address some of the main issues users had with the new design. In reading through most of the earlier feedback, we didn't see anybody who was looking for auto updates of the feed or minor tweaks to the interface - instead, most users simply wanted the old layout back.
What Should Facebook Do?
Facebook obviously has no interest in upsetting its users, but we will have to wait and see if the tweaks that Cox announced yesterday will be enough to appease those users who passionately dislike the new design. The current feedback is not exactly encouraging in this respect
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This is a start. Facebook needs to bring back accessibility and needs to stop coding for the least-capable browsers: IE 6&7. The techniques they're using smack of 1999!
Facebook users really do like to whine. Ironic that a lot are young, hip, and should be technologically inclined.
Obviously, they don't deal well with change.
I voted yes in the poll.
I voted yes, too, but I wonder if a lot of those who left positive comments are also quite active on Twitter
Posted by: Frederic
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March 25, 2009 11:35 AM
As much as facebook is "the user's site" it's also facebook's. Innovating and changing things are part of running a site. I agree the current iteration is nasty, but it's like a bad haircut. You just have to accept it, learn a little, and try to get something better next time.
What a bunch of freaking whiny ass babies. Sorry but it had to be said. Starting to remind me a bit of Xanga.
Filtering out wall posts interferes with my plans for world tee domination
I like change, but this time I voted NO. Facebook is not twitter. I like to share and "meet" with friends and family in FB, but I don't really care if they took a test, send an easter egg or their aura is blue. Facebook for me is just like a phone call, or an e-mail where I can say hi to my friends every day. Knowing what they are doing every minute is really annoying. Besides, for some reasons, since my feed is full with quizzes and crazy applications I feel I miss the news I am really interested in.
They are folding like a $2 suit IMO ... http://tinyurl.com/d6lh9k
thank youu super sıte
I'm not a big fan of the new changes but I could deal with it. I'm not going to form a group now to get the old Facebook back. I don't understand why people get so upset about the new layout.
Facebook new homepage is cool in my opinion, but I still think the best homepage on the net is sthrt.com... hands down.
I'm not a big fan of the mantolama new changes but I could deal with it. I'm not going to mantolama form a group now to get the old Facebook back. I don't mantolama understand why people get so upset about the new layout.
Changes??? If facebook would like to make changes, how about making their website faster. Every time I try to log in or do anything, the service runs extremely slow. It is better than it used to be... but is still horrible.