Facebook users hate redesign. Lather, rinse, repeat?
So there's a new Facebook app out there, designed to poll users on the social network's latest redesign. The results? Hundreds of thousands have responded. 94 percent give it a thumbs-down. Ouch.
Comments range from "WHY FIX IT, WHEN IT WASN'T BROKE, you will be SORRYYYYYYYYYYY" to "It feels counterintuitive and less technologically advanced than the last layout."
Now, this is clearly not an official vote. Chances are, you're not going to install a third-party polling application with the sole purpose of voicing an opinion on the new Facebook design unless you're really opinionated about it. So the 94 percent might be kind of high.
But still. Facebook is so big now--over 175 million members--that even an interface change may throw many of the less technical users completely off guard. And from what we've heard, non-geeks really do find the new design more difficult to use. The new site, particularly the activity feeds on member profiles, really do look different. The blurring between status messages and wall posts doesn't make much sense in my opinion--though I do like the improved news feed filtering tools.
It's easy to wave this off, because Facebook redesigns have brought up one threatened user revolt after another, and the site has just kept on growing. Members grew used to the new features, and in some cases (like the original launch of the news feed) it's hard to imagine Facebook without them. The only changes Facebook has made in response to user outrage, historically, have been in response to privacy concerns.
But Facebook's not just dealing with the young and tech-savvy anymore. When the people who freak out over a redesigned phone bill or cable channel-changing menu have Facebook profiles, "they'll get used to it" doesn't float as well. So this could really be a problem.
The new layout is a forward-thinking one, inspired by streaming content services like Twitter. Executives from Facebook have said that they see "the stream" as the next evolution of how we interact on the Web.
But even though Twitter's all over daytime talk shows these days, it's still just barely out of the gates as something more than an early-adopter toy. It's a fraction the size of Facebook. And the "Twitter plus media sharing" model doesn't have the best track record, as its most notable example, Pownce, was sold to Six Apart and shut down amid dwindling traffic. It probably would've been smarter for Facebook to ease users into the "stream" with a course of smaller tweaks rather than to require them to plunge in headlong.
Facebook's last redesign was finalized in September. That's only six months ago. If a site is putting out changes every six months that a mainstream audience sees as drastic, they could get fed up with it fast.
Caroline McCarthy, a CNET News staff writer, is a downtown Manhattanite happily addicted to social-media tools and restaurant blogs. Her pre-CNET resume includes interning at an IT security firm and brewing cappuccinos. E-mail Caroline. 
Jeezzz
why can't i choose which design to use?
anyways, the site is still lacking. it takes too many steps to send a message. clicking on someones picture should give you the option to send a message to that person.
Rounded boxes are great for icons. Not so great for photographs.
Otherwise, I don't really care :). No ones paying for it, so get over it,
And being a Facebook user, I would say we are a whiney bunch. I like the new layout but I feel like I'm going to be the last one standing by Facebook and everybody else is going to be hating anything that Facebook, specifically Mark Zuckerburg, does.
Where as (admittedly) me and my peer group will bear our fists in outrage at changes, we can't imagine living our lives without devices to assist in social contact. Therefore, we ultimately acquiesce and continue using. In contrast, the generation up is less likely to be attached to tech applications/devices. They'll join if it's convenient and quit if it's not.
Many may think it's "lame" to have their mom, dad and teacher on facebook - but for facebook this is a business and they know their growing profits dervie from cornering whatever market they can get. If they've already cinched the youth market, then they should be wary of rocking the boat for their next potentially big market of "mature" users.
I wish I were a web developer, I'd copy facebook, prevent all apps and market it to people over 50.
Example: If you're poor, and a charity gives you canned food, and you say "I wanted lobster", well yes, you're ungrateful. If it's not a charity though, if it's a company that plans to make billions of dollars off your eyes, well then, kick and scream. You are the customer, not the recipient of charity. After all, it will be the products you buy that are advertised on facebook that will pay for facebook.
Complain away, facebook's not a charity.
Duh! :P
I understand where they are coming from, but I still wish the things you see in the right sidebar were in your stream. If they can't do that, at least make the right sidebar a separate stream. Why demote notes & fan pages while promoting wall posts & status updates? I don't get that. But in the end, as long as I get notifications in one place it doesn't really matter.
Apart from that I have no problems with it. I just wish that they'd innovate like they used to instead of just copying twitter.
I got used to it, no problem, but I just don't like it as much as the previous design.
Besides that, it's such an obvious attempt to copy Twitter that it makes me wonder whether they really have any idea of what their strength is.
Honest to God, why would you absolutely lose your ability to make rational decisions because of a teeny, relatively fledgling competitor? Talk about an elephant being scared of a mouse.
I like these friends. I don't want to hide their updates about their lives. But this app stuff is bull! I hate it! And it prevents things from getting on the feed that I might want.
I'd hoped Facebook would make it easier to keep in touch with friends and family but you know what? Email is fine too.
Facebook HAS to at least tweak this to let us get rid of these stupid apps. It's not enough that you can set your own app preferences - if a friend doesn't do that, we get stuck with them.
It's not like what happened with bolt.com years back. The tried to be youtube and eventually ditched their old site after a short spell of naming it bolt 2. Now, THAT was justified, users fled in droves from bolt when they ditched 'classic' bolt.
It's not like facebook is pretending to be something its not, it's STILL facebook.
The new stream is also a stalkers paradise. I've notice friends have curtailed their actions because they know anything they do will be broadcasted to all their friends.
As for "people freaking over the last redesign..." Yeah - and we didn't like that either! Of course we'll figure it out if we want o keep in touch w/ our friends and family - but being forced vs. Being asked is a huge difference. We may not pay for our accounts on FB, but they DO make money off of us - a LOT of it!
It would be much more acceptable if they were to spend more than a little TIME finding out what WE want! That last design wasn?t very long ago and these sudden changes are very frustrating to those not so immersed ion technology. And if the changes (improvements) made were actually what the masses WANTED ? it would be embraced more readily than changed that are less functional and are thrust upon us like a parent shoving medicine down a child?s throat while saying, ?I know what?s best for you.?
- by TV James March 20, 2009 8:43 AM PDT
- I already have a stream. It's Twitter. I don't need Facebook to mimic Twitter and I actually now use Facebook less as a result of the new design. There's less stuff of interest to me on there about my friends.
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