In the constantly changing world of social media, Facebook isn’t slowing down. The latest changes are designed to make the news feed function more manageable so you never miss the updates you’re interested in the most.
Starting tonight you will no longer see the “Top Stories” and “Most Recent” links on the top of your page. Instead, all of your top stories and recent stories will be in one place. To help you filter through the updates, the company has added “Lists.” You can add or remove your friends from the lists you create and post updates that only that list will see. This recently became active on my personal page and Facebook took the liberty of creating some for me, including Close Friends and High School.
Perhaps the most significant change is the addition of a news ticker. The ticker will be displayed on the top right of your page above the chat function. There you will see all of the recent activities – what people are doing right now – such as sharing a link, liking a photo or becoming friends with someone.
And finally, photos are getting some attention. Images will be displayed more prominently in your news feed, something many users have been asking for.
Like most of the changes Facebook has rolled out, we’ve always found it’s easier to understand once we could see it. So to help you get the idea, here’s an official video from the company with screenshots.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6JrZdF4IPA&feature=player_embedded
All of these features come right before the highly anticipated f8 conference this Thursday. Facebook is expected to announce some substantial changes and initiatives there, such as the launch of a music and media platform, a major profile redesign, Facebook credits and the beginning of an ecommerce integration.
Bottom line, by the end of the week, Facebook as you currently know it will be gone.
