Last Thursday Facebook announced it’s first major design update since launching the timeline at the end of 2011, a new look news feed which places more focus on images and aims to reduce clutter. The new version features a left hand menu and will provide users with larger images, multiple feeds and consistency across mobile, tablet and web.
Bigger Images
As photo sharing is currently all the rage in social media, Facebook has taken this into consideration aiming to create a more visually engaging news feed. "News feed has become primarily about content," said Mark Zuckerberg. "Nearly 50 percent is visual content."User can expect to see larger, richer images in their news feed for both profile pictures of friends, with cover photos included, and shared articles resembling that of a magazine with publishers logo.
New Feeds
Users will now also have greater control over stories they want to see with the introduction of several new feed options including a friends feeds showing only posts from your friends;a photos only feed which will include photos shared from Instagram and other photo apps; a music feed and a feed containing the latest updates from pages you follow. And in terms of how content is sorted a chronological view will also be available.
Consistent Mobile Experience
Realizing that more and more users access Facebook from mobile devices the new news feed provides the same look and feel across mobile, tablet and web. This consistency aims to improve the user experience with a cleaner design more intuitive navigation and less overall clutter. With more and more social media platforms vying for users attention the changes Facebook has made should mean that instead of users simply scrolling to the end of their main feed and then leaving the site, they may choose to then check out their music feed, or a photo feed and browse for longer. The new design will roll out slowly over coming weeks, coming to mobile apps first. What are your thoughts on the redesigned news feed? Let us know in the comments below.