New Facebook goes live, old Facebook dies
Facebook announced that today is the day that it will start rolling out its new site to all of its 100 million users. According to the social network more than 30 million people are already using the new layout, which has brought about protests from other users. Soon the little "back to the old Facebook" frame will disappear from users' pages and we're all going to have to either put up -- or shut up.
In response to the near 800,000 members of the "I Hate the New Facebook" group, a Facebook spokesperson said today:
"We appreciate all of the feedback we have received since we started working on the new design of Facebook. We encourage our users to continue sending us suggestions that will help us make the site even better."
A bit of a soft serve from the social networking giant and it will likely not appease its many users who are against this design switch. However, Facebook's Mark Slee published a blog a few days ago that states why some changes were made and Facebook has offered some tips on how to navigate the new site:
- Filter Feeds - Check out the most recent and relevant actions from friends on Top Stories or see them as they happen with Live Feed.
- Customize Tabs - Access to photos, info, and applications with new tabs on the profile page. Create custom tabs for the applications you access most frequently (such as a "Music" tab for iLike).
- Navigate Faster - Quickly jump to profile, apps, inbox, search, home, and friend updates, through the navigation bar at the top of each page.
- Participate in Stories - Easily view the top stories generated by riends, comment inline on status updates, and filter which stories you'd like to see more of - whether it's more photos, fewer status updates, or more about a particular person.
- Publish Content - Post comments, links, photos, music, and videos directly to the Mini Feed or friends' walls with the publisher box.
I'll admit that I am still reluctant to try the new Facebook, but lacking any other choice than to leave the site (which, let's face it, I won't do) I am open to trying some of the above tips to make my experience a bit more worthwhile.
I guess Facebook is listening to its users after all.