By: Katie Corbut, Account Coordinator
Everyone has been talking about it. There’s been plenty of gossip. Fists were clenched and sighs were heard throughout the office, and possibly even the world.
It’s one of those dreaded moments where everyone feels defeated, confused, let down and frustrated. Similar to that moment where you sit down and the toilet paper roll has one square, or when Tim Horton’s stopped carrying your favorite seasonal delight. Many were up in arms this morning as they got the news.
Yeah, you know what I’m talking about. Facebook changed its design again. Comparable to waking up backwards on the other side of the bed, the new Facebook layout has started everyone’s mornings in a strange way and has initiated many negative conversations. Trending Twitter hashtags clued me in to the changes this morning when I woke up: #facebookchanges, #newfacebook and even #teamtwitter (those who have converted from Facebook to Twitter completely).
Some are even saying that Google+ is looking better and better as Facebook tries to get ahead, because they’re actually making blood vessels explode. These changes come at a pivotal moment in social networking, as Google+ becomes “public” (even though scoring an “invite” to Google+ was so easy that it was always relatively public). Certain changes to the new Facebook are “eerily similar to Google+,” said TC’s Carolyn Human – and many in the social networking universe agree.
New changes make it possible for Facebook users to see instantaneous movements by friends in the right column, which is kind of handy. Then there’s the Recent Stories feed above the normal (?) feed. Apparently there are some updates that are more worthy than others, which you can edit to suit your opinion as opposed to Facebook’s – what do they know, really? Personally, I’d rather just see it all, in order, no matter who it’s from. If I don’t want to see it I’ll just keep scrolling. I also don’t like the fact that I have to make an extra click, just to update my status. Facebook used to be about ease of use, but now they’re trying to be too much like Google+ and are ignoring the good parts of the site that people liked the most.
Meanwhile, I’m a little irked that Facebook tried to mess with the wheel because the former design was easy to use and took little time to get used to. Now, I have to click more to see what I want to see, and most likely miss updates I would have normally seen on the previous layout.
Here are some initial reactions about Facebook from the Travers Collins crew:
“Just how do they determine what’s of interest to me? Is it by who posts the most stuff…or who has the most comments? Do they think they know what’s in my head? Really? I think it’s ridiculous.” Betty Ann Krischan
“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. The more they make silly changes, the less I want to visit the site. Although I’m probably addicted to FB like everybody else and will invariably tolerate all these annoying tweaks.” Jeff Bucki
“As usual, I wasn’t thrilled about the changes at first but in a week or so I won’t know how I managed with the old format!” Kellie Mazur
“Oh no, not again. I don’t have time for this.” Me
While most in the TC office are irritated and/or confused, some aren’t phased by the changes at all:
“Is Facebook that thing they made the movie about with Justin Timberlake?” Joe Sweeney
Maybe we should all switch to the Sweeney side of life. Facebook tends to take up a lot of my spare time. What about yours? Do you think the changes are good? Will you continue to use Facebook over Google+ or Twitter?
