Facebook announced Thursday it is giving its venerable news feed a new look and feel.
The new news feed represents the first major overhaul of Facebook’s core service since the launch of Facebook Timeline at the end of 2011.
“The news feed is one of the most important things we’ve built,” Facebook co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg said during the press event. Likening news feed to “the most personalized newspaper,” Zuckerberg added that “the stories around you deserve to be displayed with more than just text.”
“How we’re all sharing is changing and the news feed needs to evolve with those changes. This is the evolving face of news feed.”
The new news feed features three major components:
- Bigger Images
- Multiple Feeds
- Mobile Consistency
A New Focus on Imagery
The new look is a radical departure from the Facebook of old. It’s mobile-inspired and consistent across devices.
When it comes to the feed itself, the focus on stories is now much more visual. Greater emphasis is given to images — which are now much larger. Photos now make up nearly 50% of news feed stories and are now front and center.
If you see shades of Instagram — or Google+ — in the new feed, you aren’t alone. We see them too. Facebook says it is following trends on where design is headed and it is clear that trend includes big photos and a clean, navigable design.
More Feeds, More Control
As for the “feeds” aspect of news feed, users now have access to more types of feeds and have more control over how those feeds are displayed.
Users can subscribe to different types of feeds, including feeds from all friends, close friends, music, photos, games and those who a user “follows.”
And, for those of us who hate how Facebook sorts news feed content, a chronological view is now available.
It’s not clear how these new feeds will affect promoted stories and content or the longer-lasting impact it may have on brands and pages.
Mobile Consistency
The new news feed design was inspired by mobile. It takes significant cues from the Facebook mobile apps for phones and tablets, adding a new side navigation bar and more white space.
Understanding that more users are accessing Facebook from mobile than ever, Facebook is focused on making the overall experience more consistent, regardless of platform.
The new feed will start rolling out today on web.
Let us know your thoughts on the changes in the comments.
[via: Mashable.com]
David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images
