21 September 2011 | Author: L Boyd Media Intern
Another day in the run up to the f8 conference; another new addition to the biggest social networking site on the planet.
Today, Facebook unveiled a real-time 'ticker' update to the site, which keeps users up-to-date on their friends' activities - right down to Likes - as they happen. The news feed has also transformed to now display only 'Top Stories' from the previous 24 hours marked by a blue corner, with most recent updates banished to the bottom of the page.
According to Facebook, this new set up should turn the news feed into something resembling a personalised newspaper and will change depending upon how frequently a user visits the site.
"All your news will be in a single stream with the most interesting stories featured at the top. If you haven't visited Facebook for a while, the first things you'll see are top photos and statuses posted while you've been away," Mark Tonkelowitz, engineering manager at Facebook, said.
The ticker feature shows the actions of online friends as they happen, the benefit of this being "when a friend comments, asks a question or shares something like a check in, you'll be able to join the conversation right away," according to Tonkelowitz.
However, early reports indicate reactions to the site changes have been less than stellar. Guardian journalist Josh Halliday blogged. "My static News Feed looks pretty tired right now - the top story is a comment on my wall from nine hours ago - while the most recent 'ticker' update is a pretty banal one from a friend who inexplicably just 'Liked' his own photo."
In direct response to Tonkelowitz's Facebook blog post, user Brandi Genest Weeks commented: "Quite frankly I don't want Facebook deciding who is most important in my life. I want my news feed to just go chronologically and if I want to hide posts from someone, I will. Stop changing," and earned herself over 1,000 Likes.
Despite the usual mixed reaction to their interface changes, Zuckerberg and Co are probably feeling optimistic for other reasons - a few billion of them.
With a recent forecast by eMarketer predicting the company will hit $4.27 billion dollars in global revenue this year (up $2 billion up on last year), Facebook must be doing something right.
Facebook changes ruffle a few feathers
Another day in the run up to the f8 conference; another new addition to the biggest social networking site on the planet.Today, Facebook unveiled a real-time 'ticker' update to the site, which keeps users up-to-date on their friends' activities - right down to Likes - as they happen. The news feed has also transformed to now display only 'Top Stories' from the previous 24 hours marked by a blue corner, with most recent updates banished to the bottom of the page.
According to Facebook, this new set up should turn the news feed into something resembling a personalised newspaper and will change depending upon how frequently a user visits the site.
"All your news will be in a single stream with the most interesting stories featured at the top. If you haven't visited Facebook for a while, the first things you'll see are top photos and statuses posted while you've been away," Mark Tonkelowitz, engineering manager at Facebook, said.
The ticker feature shows the actions of online friends as they happen, the benefit of this being "when a friend comments, asks a question or shares something like a check in, you'll be able to join the conversation right away," according to Tonkelowitz.
However, early reports indicate reactions to the site changes have been less than stellar. Guardian journalist Josh Halliday blogged. "My static News Feed looks pretty tired right now - the top story is a comment on my wall from nine hours ago - while the most recent 'ticker' update is a pretty banal one from a friend who inexplicably just 'Liked' his own photo."
In direct response to Tonkelowitz's Facebook blog post, user Brandi Genest Weeks commented: "Quite frankly I don't want Facebook deciding who is most important in my life. I want my news feed to just go chronologically and if I want to hide posts from someone, I will. Stop changing," and earned herself over 1,000 Likes.
Despite the usual mixed reaction to their interface changes, Zuckerberg and Co are probably feeling optimistic for other reasons - a few billion of them.
With a recent forecast by eMarketer predicting the company will hit $4.27 billion dollars in global revenue this year (up $2 billion up on last year), Facebook must be doing something right.
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