The “New” Facebook: Learning From Old Mistakes
Written by Becky Bitzenhofer (contact - e-mail) -- September 3rd, 2008 |
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A few weeks ago, I logged on to Facebook to see if any of my friends had dared to challenge me in another game of word twist. As was expected, due to my unprecedented dominance in the game, no one had. What was not expected, however, was an inconspicuous link at the top of the page telling me to try the “New” Facebook. So, I decided to check it out.
This “New” Facebook had an entirely different layout, putting many elements of friends’ Profiles on various tabs and allowing for greater control of what your friends see on your profile. In my opinion, the change was an upgrade. Gone were the days of needing to scroll past super pokes, ninja and pirate fights, graffiti, aquariums, and the latest roshombo matches to write on the walls of friends who don’t seem to know how to click “no” to application invites. In general, things felt cleaner and easier to use. Not everybody sees it the way I do though. When I showed it to my boyfriend, he was appalled at the changes. He had gotten used to Facebook’s layout and did not want to go through the hassle of learning a new layout and figuring out how to do what he wants to do on Facebook. Luckily for him, Facebook was kind enough to put a link at the top of the “New” Facebook allowing you to go back to the “old” Facebook experience. He eagerly went back to the familiar styles he has come to love. Facebook is clearly being cautious with this release, providing links to allow users to give feedback and input prior to the full release. A friend who signed up for Facebook last week was even introduced to the “old” Facebook, rather than pushed to the new, indicating Facebook is not ready to make the new site the standard. The “beta” testing style of this release made me curious as to how many Facebook users have decided to check out the “New” Facebook since its rollout.
Since it’s rollout, the “New” Facebook has progressively attracted more visitors as the weeks of summer roll by. As of the week of August 10th, more than half of all Facebook users have at least checked out the new site. By the week of August 17th, that visitor count had topped 60% of all Facebook users. Because Facebook has slowly rolled out this new site, inviting more and more people to check out the “New” Facebook each week, this chart only tells us half the story. It is also important to look at how many users checked out the “New” facebook and then decided to go back to the old style in the same session.
Facebook users using the “New” Facebook are slowly trending towards only using it, rather than clicking to go back to the old. This has leveled off in the last couple of weeks, holding steady at about 40% of Facebook users checking out the new site deciding to click back to the old. Having 60% of users continue on to use the new site is good news for Facebook, as it indicates users are beginning to come around to the new style. It is clear that Facebook has learned and grown from its last major new release. For those of you that don’t recall, in Sept. 2006 Facebook suddenly unveiled its “mini feed”which shocked and scared off many of its users with its openess and seemingly invasion of privacy. This time around, Facebook is letting its users get accostomed to the new style at their own pace, as well as allowing them to provide feedback regarding the new design. Hopefully for Facebook, this will result in more satisfied users, while –in my opinion–providing users with a cleaner, more streamlined Facebook experience.
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September 3rd, 2008 at 1:20 pm
My wife and I are both using the new facebook, and we don’t feel that the changes are that drastic. It is true that it is easier to navigate and manage. I definitely have to agree that this gradual evolution was a much wiser approach by facebook as opposed to the mini-feed.
September 3rd, 2008 at 3:18 pm
I like the new layout but I’m too lazy/busy to adjust if I don’t yet have to…so I’m using the old. Oops.
September 3rd, 2008 at 11:35 pm
I’ll stick to the old facebook thank you. Its tough enough keeping up every new flanged thing that pops up every other day. I’m still trying to figure out Chrome, and whether to dump IE. Speaking of which, aren’t you guys going to do an analysis of the number of people opting for Chrome?
September 4th, 2008 at 3:46 am
I much prefer the old Facebook format. I’m never switching to the new one!
September 5th, 2008 at 7:29 am
From the handful of comments I’ve read that actually support the new version, people seem to feel that one of the main benefits is having all of the apps on a separate page. They seem to forget that you can actually “roll up” or minimise apps that you don’t want to see with the old Facebook. I personally don’t like flood of apps either, but I like being able to pick and choose which are visible on both my own and others’ profiles - without having to click specifically to view them. Sometimes it’s nice to just have something catch your gaze from the corner of your eye.
September 5th, 2008 at 10:20 am
Looks like they won’t offer the old facebook for long.
http://www.insidefacebook.com/2008/09/04/old-facebook-will-be-gone-next-week-better-app-access-coming/
September 5th, 2008 at 6:15 pm
really I want to feed back to old face book
i hate the new one
September 7th, 2008 at 10:19 pm
I just found out that you can switch back to the old version! I posted about this on the Catholic Tech Tips blog.
September 9th, 2008 at 7:49 am
Because so many people are against the New Facebook (look at all the groups), join us and Chuck Norris : http://www.new.facebook.com/group.php?gid=25496756389
Chuck Norris has created the New Facebook, and Chuck Norris is our guide
I definitely approves the New Facebook, as Chuck Norris does!
September 10th, 2008 at 12:20 pm
I prefer the look of the new facebook to the old, so I’m sticking with it. However, I’ve only been on for about nine months, so I’m not an FB wizard by any means (and it means I’m not really missing an old familiar). There still a lot of mystery for me in where things are, how they’re laid out, etc. But that also might be because I’m an old dog (in my 40s). It’s not so much that I can’t learn new tricks, but I don’t feel compelled to do so - I’d rather read a book.
September 10th, 2008 at 10:00 pm
i am new to facebook. i clicked on “go back to the old facebook” to see what it was, and now i want to go back to the new facebook- but i can’t figure out how! does anyone know?
September 12th, 2008 at 11:49 am
i have a question were did all the games on the new FB i tryed to look for any games or aplication but seems it cant be used why? i mean all this new beta FB to make it eassy for ppl to find the fuckin wall trust me it wasnt hard for ppl to find,old FB was way better FB dont make us hate using FB
September 12th, 2008 at 8:38 pm
Frickin idiots. I’ve never seen such a poorly designed and quickly thrown togheter piece of crap that is the new facebook. They should put down the crack-pipe and atleast allow the users a choice to use their new, disgusting crap or stick with the old crap.. that worked and looked fine.
September 13th, 2008 at 5:13 am
The old one is much better for sure , at lest it’s not mixed up , like the walls and the uploaded or tagged pictures all come in one shite column we use to call it the mine field , now they should name it “all in one mine field”, and now I cant switch to the old facebook , I hope those ppl who work on face book think again cz really the new one suck !!
September 13th, 2008 at 6:30 am
Yes i defenitly sucks……. confusing loads slower ,,,, please revert to the pro old version…
September 16th, 2008 at 4:23 pm
the charts in this article are misleading, it’s not that people are choosing to use the new facebook- it’s that the website itself is forcing us one by one to use it. i just got switched over a few days ago, and have stopped using it since then, it’s just set up so poorly. i started using facebook in college when it first came out and have been forced to get used to many changes; it went from strictly colleges, to including high schools, to including regions, to basically including everyone. that was tough to swallow at the time, especially now that MY DAD has facebook, which is strange. but, like anything else, you get used to it. there was a huge uproar when facebook first became open to anyone, because let’s face it- those of us who chose to join it in college did so because it was JUST for us. i have never been, nor will i ever be, a member of myspace. it’s just too dangerous in this world to be a part of something that is open to everyone, because then you get everything that goes along with that- and unfortunately even though most people behave themselves on sites, there are always the few that ruin it for everyone. however, when it came to facebook, they did a great job of putting up great privacy settings and blocking features and everything else, so i stayed on. but now the issue at hand is convenience, since the intro of facebook it has stayed relatively the same in terms of design, more or less. so those of us that started using it as the prime group that it was designed for have gotten used to that format. i don’t think it’s fair to completely change everything that makes people like the site. i’m not saying that change isn’t a good thing sometimes, but i think the least the website could do is LEAVE the option UP of allowing us to switch back and forth. if so many people are in fact going over to new then so be it, i guess they were right. but i think the reality of the situation is that they are switching us over without the option of switching us back. i even was able to download an application that installed the old facebook for good, but once they caught wind of that the website personnel blocked that too, so now i’m back to the new one. i know it seems petty, but when your whole reasoning of joining a site is because it is NOTHING like a creepy myspace or anything like that, then why turn it more like that? over the years it’s added all kinds of applications and other things that crowd the server, and now this? i heard that older computers can’t even access the site because of the format they used, and that alone is reason enough to switch right there- that means it cannot be accessed equally by every member. i know they were cautious about this unveiling, but maybe they should have been more cautious of the design. i think the old one is best suited for everyone, and if they don’t agree then that’s okay, but at least give US, the consumers, the choice. don’t switch us all over permanently.
September 16th, 2008 at 6:07 pm
how do cahnge bact 2 old faceboook?
September 17th, 2008 at 3:29 am
New FB sucks… I dont like it at all ;/
September 18th, 2008 at 1:28 pm
I hate the new version!
September 20th, 2008 at 11:28 am
how do i go back 2 the old versionn????????????????????
plz reply asap.
September 21st, 2008 at 6:51 pm
You may still be able to revert to the Old FB.
Try Tunc’s method or the following.
Click on this link and add the application:
http://www.facebook.com/apps/application.php?id=2345053339
Then click this link:
http://apps.new.facebook.com/?fbnew_opt_out=1
September 25th, 2008 at 10:34 pm
i dont like new facebook. please stop the new facebook.its very diffucult. pls continue with old facebook.please i really waiting for old facebook.
September 27th, 2008 at 9:32 pm
I hate the new FB. Can’t be arsed to work it out. Again.
October 20th, 2008 at 3:09 pm
I prefer the old facebook, I used to express myself with the old one, decorations and bumperstickers of my one. Now, facebook is boring it looks like a boring job blog, no one is happy specially us.. teens! WE LOVE TO EXPRESS OURSELFS. I used to log in and see my beautiful profile page, it made me happy, the new facebook is not that good so boring. People should have the right to decide wether having the new or the old, others can make up our desitions it is not fair. Many of us will delete their profile page if the old one doesnt came back soon. I WANT THE OLD FACEBOOK BACK PLEASE! Oh and by the way, the old facebook was not a problem at all it was perfect, made many people happy, so.. why change it?
November 21st, 2008 at 10:09 am
Hey,,, been a user for personal and Business now for 5 years and I can say for personal use the new version is very hard to find out information,, but on the other hand for business use it has been improved greatly with SEO aspects.
November 27th, 2008 at 3:05 pm
caos
December 23rd, 2008 at 11:35 am
thnakx
April 10th, 2009 at 6:09 pm
good job
April 12th, 2009 at 4:03 pm
nice sharing