Stop complaining!

“I hate the new Facebook!” was seen in the status of Facebook users all over when the website embraced a new look recently. The new format allows registered users to divided mini-applications into segments and also helps to prioritized updates pictures, new messages and latest “feeds” on the main profile page (Australian IT, 2008).

Source: WeCite Blog

Vice-President of Marketing, Chamath Palihapitiya, explained that the change was due to the increasingly popular trend in sharing videos and pictures over the internet. They want to ensure that users are able to obtain “bite-sized content” quickly and easily (Palihapitiya, quoted in Australian IT, 2008). The revamped Facebook produced more interactive and organized pages that help users to navigate and install application easily (Australian IT, 2008).

However, Facebook members around the world were protesting against this new look. Forums like “Who hates the new Facebook format” were created and thousands of users responded. People started comparing both formats.

Old Facebook: All You Remember?


New Facebook: Too Far?

Source: YouTube

In my opinion, I prefer the new format compared to the previous one. Firstly, the segmented information definitely made it easier for me to navigate through the pages. As agreed by Walsh (2006), it is common to find segmented frames of information in websites. Users will choose their own reading pathway as they click on menus and hyperlinks within the frames (Walsh, 2006). Profile pages in the old Facebook were complicated because all the mini-applications were cramped into one profile page. There was no navigation pathway within the page.

Besides that, the new Facebook also shows consistency. Reep (2006, p. 136) refers to consistency as “presenting similar features in a similar style”. This was seen in terms of the placement of navigation buttons, search bars, logo and other hyperlinks. Facebook users can easily be directed to different pages within the network.

Therefore, for those who are not satisfied with the new Facebook layout, you should familiarize yourself with the new features before jumping to conclusions. Then you will find that the benefits outweigh the disadvantages. So stop complaining!

References:

The Australian 2008, ‘Facebook makeover leaves some devotees fuming’, Australian IT, viewed 12 November 2008, <http://www.australianit.news.com.au/story/0,24897,24328928-15318,00.html>.

Reep, DC 2006, Technical Writing, 6th edn, ‘Chapter 6: Document design’, Pearson Longman, New York.

Walsh, M 2006, ‘The ‘textual shift’: Examining the reading process with print, visual and multimodal texts’, Australian Journal of Language and Literacy, vol. 29, no. 1, pp. 24-37.