Well, it’s not surprising that there is a buzz about the changes hitting Facebook this week and those coming soon. Here’s a rundown of what you need to know.
Your News Feed – Right Now
The most immediate change on Facebook, and the one most people are talking (or complaining) about, is the revamped news feed. You now have a number of different options when it comes to keep in touch and staying up to date with your friends. Allison Nassour provides a great overview in this post.
Read more from Girl’s Guide to Social Media: Facebook News Feed Overhaul. Benefits and Your Control.
f8 Keynote Video
Yesterday, Facebook’s f8 developer conference took place in San Francisco. There were lots of announcement and explanations. Watch this video of the keynote for more.
Read more from Entrepreneur: Facebook Has Lots to Share at f8
More from f8
If you don’t have an hour and a half to watch the f8 keynote video (watch at least the first 5 minutes for a laugh!), read through this recap of what was covered at f8 and what it means for your Facebook account.
Read more from Search Engine Land: New Facebook Features From F8 Include Timeline, “Liking As A Verb,” & More Engaging Apps
Timeline Explained
One of the most talked about features coming soon on Facebook is the Timeline, the new way profiles will be displayed. This is a lot to digest for Facebook users who are used to the current setup, so it’s a good thing we have a few weeks to get accustomed to it. See what the Timeline is all about in this article.
Read more from Simply Zesty: Facebook’s New Timeline – Exclusive Behind The Scenes Photos And Video Demo
Subscribing
With the new subscribe button, you can now subscribe to public updates posted on user profiles, and allow your public updates to be subscribed to by non-friends. John Haydon put together a great recap on what you need to know about using the subscribe feature.
Read more from John Haydon: How to activate Facebook’s new Subscribe Button (and what it means)
The joy Facebook has is that no one pays for membership… which means that you can hate what their doing and complain about it and there is nothing for them to lose. I am not as upset about the changes like some folks, because I have come to realize that Facebook will make changes every month.
I completely agree, Jake. You can’t complain about the food at a free lunch. Facebook can make changes…they can also disappear or pull the plug, and everyone will lose everything they have on the site. Not that it will ever happen, but you never know when it comes to free.
Facebook is free for the end user, but there are still some things for Facebook to consider when they make changes. Let’s not forget they make money from us flocking to them daily through their advertising!
If you’re Facebook and you irk enough people to cause a mass exodus or even just get irritating enough to make people visit you less frequently, it can seriously impact site revenue.
When we talk about how Facebook is free to use, I think it’s also important we realize that Facebook isn’t operating on altruism. They use their users to make money, and whether your average Facebook participant agrees to let that continue to happen will be determined by how individual users perceive the site and how easy or difficult/confusing it is to navigate.
For me personally, the less intuitive and more intrusive the social media platform, the less time I spend on the site. With more information being flashed at me from the Facebook sidebar now, I’m feeling just a touch of information overload. And because I’m already stretched so thin, my inclination is to stop using the site, rather than spend more time trying to figure how to make it do what I want.