Facebook Update Falls Flat
Based upon the resounding cries of disapproval from far and wide, I think that it is clear that the new Facebook news feed layout falls flat. Combine that with the announcement about its new Timeline feature and I think that if Facebook's goal is to push everyone over to Google+, then they are doing a fabulous job.
You know that its bad when not only are the "old" people complaining but you have kids, teenagers, complaining about it. Hey folks at Facebook, in case you haven't noticed the teenage and college crowd are your main proponents of Facebook and they absolutely HATE the new layout.
When you can't persuade with the demographic group that lives and breathes your product and has intertwined it into their life, then perhaps you need to re-think what you've done. Maybe a quiet switch back to the old way of doing things isn't so bad. Then to add insult to injury, they are now re-doing the profile page, without letting anyone get a breathe in edgewise.
While the Timeline feature might be great for older folks, kids live in the here and now. What happened in the past, is old news and I doubt there are going to be any baby pictures popping up on teenager's profile pages. They are still of the mindset that baby pictures are embarrassing, good luck getting them to like the Timeline feature.
I hear my teenagers and their friends gripe about the changes and have seen quite a few of them suddenly pop up on Google+, using Facebook to urge others to join them. While I am sure that Facebook's update to its news feed layout was meant to coincide with Google+ being available to everyone, maybe it wasn't the smartest marketing decision.
Personally, I don't like Facebook telling me what is a "Top Story" as it relates to "my" friends. I don't need little blue corners on posts. I am insulted that Facebook felt the need to dummy it up for its users. Do Zuckerberg and his crowd think that they know my friends better than I? Perhaps I go to Facebook just for the minutia that is streaming now on the right side of my screen, maybe --- just maybe I want to know who friended whom and who changed their profile picture — maybe to me, that is the news.
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