Mark Zuckerberg made a huge announcement last Thursday regarding the changes Facebook will undergo to its news feed function, which is the stream of information from friends and "liked" pages on the home page.
Zuckerberg took the stage to explain his vision for redesigning the news feed once again.
"We want to give everyone in the world the best personalized newspaper in the world," he said.
While every initial design change to Facebook's layout is usually met with harsh criticism, the new ideas showcased at the event looked highly promising for the future of social media.
The original news feed presentation primarily featured text. However, this new design shows more photos and interactivity. Zuckerberg hopes that this will affect the way news feed tells stories with its improved photo display.
Julie Zhuo, Facebook's director of design, talked about how the photos on the timeline will be prominently displayed on the news feed.
"We're really taking photos and putting them front and center, so they're more visual, more beautiful and more immersive," Zhuo said.
One of the most important things for Facebook users is the ability to control what comes on the news feed. Users can now choose to see exactly what they want to see, so their feed isn't cluttered with information that they do not want. For example, you can choose to view only your close friends or public figures. This truly gives users the feel of having a "personalized newspaper," since they are viewing only what they would like to see.
Zuckerberg also described his vision for the redesign and how it should work in every aspect.
"It should have a broad diversity of content," he said. "It should have a front page news section of top things going on and let you drill down into any topic you want."
Another important point Zuckerberg stressed was the fact that the mobile version's news feed will be consistent with the desktop version of Facebook's interface. This redesign is not strictly for those on computers – the same experience will also be easily accessible on a smartphone.
Currently, the redesign of the news feed is slowly being introduced to Facebook users as time goes on. These people, in a way, are serving as testers for the new layout. This ensures that any errors or bugs found within the new design do not affect the entire public and creates a smooth transition for the majority of Facebook's users.
While the news feed on desktops is currently being made available, tablet and phone versions will be issued within the next few weeks.
avigna@ramapo.edu
