Facebook Changes
The latest rage on the blogosphere is in relation to the recently updated Facebook status / news river layout changes. Techcrunch points out that millions of users are unhappy with the layout changes. Here are the reasons why Facebook may slightly alter but never completely change the new layout:
- Increased activity - With the recent changes I have definitely increased the number of comment posts in relation to what I have been viewing in my river of news. I have viewed more pictures and links as well. All of this activity creates a stronger tie to Facebook for the user and mainly increases the number of ad / page impressions a user will average.
- Content driven discussions - Due to the increased commenting, users are now providing feedback to another user’s post. This creates a discussion with potential for no end. All of these discussions are content than can eventually be searched upon or utilized by marketers to target ads.
- Twitter killer - As Twitter continues to gain steam (although only <10m users compares to 200m+ users for Facebook) Facebook has become jealous. The layout changes are not exactly like Twitter or Yammer, but more like FriendFeed.
In the end, Facebook appreciates user feedback, but will do as it pleases. As long as the user base continues to grow and the average user increases the amount of time spent on the site each day, Facebook will follow its’ plan with no exceptions.
