I’ve written about the changes Facebook has made since the release of Google+ many times before, but now I’m coming at it from a different angle. Every time Facebook has made a change (typically in direct response to some new or improved Google+ feature), there has been some degree of backlash from Facebook users, either on Facebook or Twitter, or in general conversation. Yesterday morning when I logged into Facebook, there seemed to be even more irate users discussing the most recent change to the Newsfeed and the right hand column. For the first time, I found myself in total agreement with what was being said. The previous changes were easy enough to ignore if you wanted to, like automatically generated lists of friends (Facebook’s attempt at creating something similar to Circles), the right hand column showing you which friends were available to chat, and the introduction of video chat capability (again, Facebook’s attempt at creating something similar to Hangouts). However, this change to the format of the Newsfeed had an immediate direct (and negative) impact on the way I used Facebook.
Before, users could toggle between “Top Stories,” which Facebook deemed to be the most relevant, and “Most Recent,” which gave you every piece of information from every friend in chronological order. Now, Facebook does not allow users the choice. Instead, it provides the “Top Stories from the Last x number of Hours” and then puts “Recent Stories” at the top once you are logged in. Users are no longer able to see everything in almost real time as they could before. And, interestingly enough, the new Newsfeed has made it so that only the stories Facebook deems to be the most important show up…I’m guessing that a high percentage of the posts complaining about Facebook’s new changes might not make that list as much as they would have before. Makes sense, right? Why would Facebook want to show everyone every negative thing that’s being said about it? Censorship?…I think so, in one form or another.
Here are some of the comments I found complaining about the new changes to Facebook in my first few minutes on the site yesterday (like I said above, I’m not convinced this is all of them…):
Dear Facebook: WTF did you do to the newsfeed? Once we get used to something that actually works, you go and f*** it all up! This floating window on the right of my screen is quite stalkerish, and the inability to choose my own settings is just upsetting.
Change it back, or at least let people choose their own setup!
Ahhh new Facebook again??
Just when I get used to the new changes fb makes…they do more…
Is Facebook offering classes on this new software?
Okay, so I highly doubt that of all my friends on fb only 13 have updated their status in the past 16 hours since I checked fb. Where is the newsfeed? How do I see everyone’s posts? WTF facebook?!?!
no, facebook. you got it wrong.
In light of all the changes Facebook has been making (including the really big changes supposedly coming today at the f8 Developers Conference, the question that pops into my head is: would Facebook have been better off staying the same? It’s clear that Facebook is the biggest social network around…it has been for quite some time. So it’s difficult to believe that a company with such a strong hold on their niche would be so insecure about the introduction of another product that might compete. It’s not as if people using Google+ would directly take money from Facebook since both networks are free to use and being on one does not prevent you from being on the other. I think that Facebook, or perhaps Mark Zuckerberg, showed its immaturity in making a number of reactionary changes to Facebook that were not well thought out. It might have been more prudent to let Google+ come out and make a bunch of noise, all the while letting Facebook remain as it has been. After all, Facebook became the biggest social network for a reason: people like it. Or should I say, ‘liked it?’ Only time will tell what the future holds for Facebook. We will see what happens throughout the day at f8. There will probably be a follow-up post regarding the big changes to come.
Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter (@orangecollar) for the most up-to-date information on Orange Collar Media!
/ms
