More Facebook Home Page Changes May Be Coming, as News Feed Test Appears
Facebook is testing a version of the news feed which collapses the previously separate Top News and Most Recent tabs into a single feed. The small group of user testers, many with less than 50 friends, see only the most relevant stories from the past few days.
There is no way to view the comprehensive, chronological list of updates provided by the Most Recent tab, leading many testers to complain they are missing important stories, seeing the same content for days on end, and feel discriminated against for not having more friends.
These tests may be in preparation for a possible home page redesign slated for September which an industry source tell us Facebook has privately discussed with partners.
Other changes that impact the home page have also surfaced or at least been mentioned recently. One is an upgraded left-hand navigation column, which began appearing yesterday. Another: company founder Mark Zuckerberg mentioned that friend lists — a feature that is now somewhat buried on the home page — are due for a revision.
In June, Facebook began testing a version of the news feed which removed the Most Recent tab but also displayed 3 large photos horizontally across the top of the feed. This new test drops the photos, but retains the combined feed. Many heavy users enjoy choosing between a feed of highly relevant stories chosen by EdgeRank and a firehose of all updates. However, users see a lot of repeat stories if they click over to Most Recent after browsing all of their Top News. Facebook has been searching for a single feed the eliminates this redundancy and is appealing to users of all usage levels.
While protests of design changes are typical, praise is rare, and the testing group is very small, the negative feedback voiced in our comments reel provides insight into how users want to consume stories. One explained, “I need to be able to see whats going on at any one time in chronological order, so I know I haven’t missed anything”, showing that a sense of calm and assurance comes from reading the entirety of the Most Recent feed. Frequent users craving fresh stories are frustrated with the longevity of content in the new format, “Since when was showing a post that happened a week ago and I have had to read 8 times already more important than anything else?”
Perhaps most interestingly was how many users were offended by how they were chosen as testers. By testing primarily on those with less than 50 friends, many believed Facebook was judging them as unpopular. “How many friends is too few?”, and “I feel like I’m being discriminated against” were common sentiments. In order to maintain the pace of innovation CEO Mark Zuckerberg touted in his speech on Wednesday, live testing is necessary. To cull data without instigating anger, though, Facebook needs to be cautious about testing only on a group sharing a sensitive characteristic like friend count.
[Image via All Facebook.]
July 23rd, 2010 at 2:01 pm
And along with these changes, as of right now Facebook has changed its code structure to no longer deliver vital metadata that many extensions use to process posts.
For example, my popular extension “Better Facebook” – http://BetterFacebook.net – can filter stories by type, user, application, and more. And it can move posts to separate news feed tabs based on powerful filtering rules. It also keeps track of what posts you have read and hides them so you don’t have to read them again.
As of right now, all of that is broken. The hidden data required to perform these tasks has been stripped from the source.
If Facebook keeps this up, it’s just going to continue pissing off its users. They cannot force users into a box and make them use their site how they want them to. Users will leave.
It’s amazing that the biggest site on the web seems to have such contempt and disregard for its users.
July 23rd, 2010 at 5:59 pm
I am part of that small group of testers and I am beyond fed up with the new change. What is even more annoying is that there is no way to contact Facebook to get an answer as to when they will change back my homepage to normal! I am seeing the same status updates over the past few days – I am not sure what brilliant mind came up with this idea. It is obvious that I am not the only one who feels this way when looking at the Facebook discussion boards, so why is Facebook not listening?!
July 23rd, 2010 at 6:01 pm
I hate the change, at least gives us a chance to opt out of your Beta test. I haven’t been able to use my Facebook for a week because I can’t find any updates and every-time I click home different posts show up on top, some days old. This sucks. Turn it back on. I am about to delete my account since its useless now.
July 23rd, 2010 at 7:49 pm
I am apparently one of these random beta testers and it’s pissing me off. I agree with Karl – it’s made the news feed absolutely useless and there’s no one to complaint to… HELLO FACEBOOK – GET ME OUT OF BETA TESTING HELL, PLEASE! I DON’T WANT TO DO IT ANYMORE! DO YOU HEAR ME??
July 23rd, 2010 at 9:54 pm
I have been dealing with the change for a few days now, and I hate it. Seeing what’s going on right now is the attractive part of FB. Plus, I have well over 50 friends, so why was I selected for this test? Maybe I should stop logging into FB, since I can’t use the site the way that I want. I agree that it’s useless and should consider deleting my acct.
July 25th, 2010 at 12:22 pm
I “”hate”" this new change and was wondering why I keep seeing the same old updates. AT LEAST give us the option of opting out. I love twitter and only use facebook for sharing pics. Please listen to your users/customers/supporters suggestions and requests.
July 26th, 2010 at 3:06 am
I always find facebook latest updates here. Thanks for the update.
July 26th, 2010 at 11:07 am
I,too was a “lucky” selectee for the test group. I don’t fit the target group, as I have over 4 times the number that they are referring to as small. I do find it inappropriate that they would implement it without warning or an end date. This shows a total diregard for their members. I agree that an opt out option should be offered before so many of us decide to opt out of FB.
July 26th, 2010 at 2:27 pm
I agree with the rest of the comments above. Having many more than 50 Facebook friends, I rely on the live updates from friends, local news sources, stores, etc to keep in the loop.
This new layout has made me miss important personal news as well as sales and big news stories. The whole point of the news feed is that I shouldn’t have to click on each friend’s page to get the news; It should all be in once place.
I also agree I wish I could opt out or at least get news as to when this beta test will end and hopefully go away. I’ve left at least two comments in the ‘help center’ (search ‘more stories’ to leave feedback).
I’m not sure why Facebook has decided it should tell me what’s important to me. This is something *I* should have control over. I understand there might be some people who use ‘top stories’ but why take away the ‘most recent’ option? Not only does it seem more popular, but wouldn’t Facebook want to leave the option up to its users?
Please realize this is NOT a good change and leave the option up to us.
July 26th, 2010 at 8:28 pm
i was also chosen as a beta tester without my knowledge at the time i had 246 friends this test has cost me the ability 2 play my games effectively and c the posts of my friends and respond appropriately i didnt want this and ive spent the last 4 days trying 2 contact facebook 2 try and get it straight i want out and i want the old format back if not then i might as well shut it down
July 27th, 2010 at 6:26 am
477 friends… growing by the day, a lot of people are not fitting the criteria, are you sure this site has the small friend group idea right? I hate ”more stories” and i hate how i cant moan about it with my friends because im the only one!! im sick of the old updates and want my old facebook back :(
July 27th, 2010 at 1:59 pm
I want my recent news feed back!!!!!!!!!
August 6th, 2010 at 6:05 am
hey when it comes???