Facebook Changes & Updates

Facebook has done it again and updated their UI, and from the responses I have seen in my new and updated news feed, it appears that everyone is complaining about the redesign and updated experience.

After the release of Google +, Facebook seemed to have taken notice to a few of the features that people considered cool and enjoyable; such as the ability to subscribe and also get better ‘real time’ updates via a new “ticker” about what is going on in the lives of their friends and connections.

Is the update for the better?

This, of course, is a question that does not have an answer as it all boils down to a matter of opinion.  I do know that users will not have a problem in using the new features.  They are very simple.

I will say this… Don’t be so quick to judge, however, because Facebook has undergone a ton of changes since their initial launch to select colleges in 2003.

For the small population of us that has been on Facebook since the beginning, we really don’t even remember what Facebook used to be like.

What typically happens is that Facebook will update their UI and user experience and immediately receive a ton of complaints and negative feedback.  However, a couple weeks after the update occurs people seem to not even remember what the “old” Facebook was like.

TheOatmeal.com describes the scenario really well in one of their comics:

I do have some slight worries that Facebook might be going down a “Myspace Path.”  Myspace was the industry leader in social networking for a long time and it seemed that they needed to give their programmers more to do and also give their users more ability – so they continually updated their site and it kept getting busier and busier and more complex to use.

People like simplicity.

Myspace was once valued nearing the billions, and they slowly stopped growing and lost their market share to Facebook.  Since then, they were acquired for a mere $35 million back in June of 2011.

One of the reasons that people love Facebook so much is because of the simplicity of the website and how easy it is to use and share with friends, even for the ‘old farts’ who know nothing of technology.  These new changes and updates seem to make things a bit more complicated and could potentially scare people off.  I stress potentially.

I don’t believe that people are going to boycott Facebook and I also firmly believe that after a week or so people will forget how Facebook used to be.

Most people are afraid of change.

I guess this blog post comes down to the fact that you should get used to hearing people complain about the new Facebook updates for a few days :: but life will go on :: Facebook will continue to see record breaking growth :: and in just a few days, you won’t even remember the old school Facebook.

Marc Horne
HC Consulting Group

PS. “Like” HC Consulting Group on Facebook: http://facebook.com/hcdesk 

PPS. Interested in more reading more about the Facebook changes and updates that have occurred?  Check out a few of these news sources below.  Feel free to leave us a comment with your thoughts on the matter and share this post with your network of connections.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/240327/facebook_redesigns_a_long_history_of_pointless_backlashes.html

http://www.cnn.com/2011/09/21/tech/social-media/facebook-changes-react/index.html

http://blog.chron.com/techblog/2011/09/facebook-changes-your-page-again-picks-the-news-it-thinks-is-important-to-you/