Not everyone likes change. With today’s announcement from Facebook, you can expect a fair share of negative feedback from traditionalists and late-adopters. The historic and iconic Facebook image continues to change over the years in order to keep up with the mobile lifestyles that exist today where there’s never any time. We have recently seen similar changes with Google AdWords & Google+. That’s no coincidence.
Before you active social media fiends have a freak out, let me explain. It’s all about keeping up with what’s current, what’s trending and what makes it “simpler” for users to enhance their experience. That being said, the new “face” lift to News Feeds everywhere carries a strong resemblance to what is already out there: more images, less content, simplicity with white space, ease of navigation and increased ability to control exactly what you are looking for.
PICTURE THIS
YouTube, Vimeo, Flickr, Instagram, Snapchat, Vine — notice a common theme? Fewer words. Facebook noticed that over 50 percent of individual News Feeds now consists of images and videos. Not status updates giving details about how long someone just brushed their teeth. Bigger, more dynamic photos are taking over. The proof is everywhere.
EASY AS 1, 2, 3
No one wants three sets of instructions on how to use one product. That’s why Facebook is making the user experience even easier with today’s announced changes. Believe it or not, Zuckerberg listened to people (I guess he’s not exactly like Hollywood portrayed him in The Social Network). He and his team wanted to create a Facebook application that is consistent across all platforms: smartphones, tablets, laptops and desktops. The exact thought process behind this new layout should be applied to brands across the world, as well. You hear it all the time, but consistency, consistency, consistency; that’s how you win. Again, this relates to Google AdWords changes and the growing effect of the mobile world we live in today that is almost considered standard to Millennials like myself — scary.
“THEY GIVE YOU THE TOOLS TO BE YOUR OWN BOSS”
Well, that’s the idea behind it. Selecting what type of News Feed you want means that you (the user) are now more in control. Music feed, photos feed, live feed, news stories feed — more choices, more options, made easier. This is also supposed to help from serving repeated content, because that is soooo 12 seconds ago. It’s a waste of time for users and a waste of content for producers.
Clearly, Facebook doesn’t mean everything, but with a platform this big and this successful globally — they are doing something right, something noteworthy. Businesses, agencies and users be ready for change. And be a proponent of it. You need to stay current, stay active, get mobile and SHOW everyone your story.
What do you think, are you ignoring change?