Facebook unveiled a new version of its News feed at its Menlo Park, Calif., headquarters tonight. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerburg said that to address feedback from users of the world's number one social network, News Feed will now offer a cleaner, photo-centric and "mobile inspired" experience with a greater emphasis on stories posted by users. Turning the site as a "personalized newspaper", Facebook is giving members more control over what status updates, news stories and other postings they are shown by splitting the all-in-one News Feed into categories. As for the social network's money making efforts, advertisers will now be able to use bigger pictures and video to make their pitch more noticeable and encourage more clicks. The updates will be rolled out in the next few weeks. If past site changes are any indication, the latest Facebook tweaks may take some getting used to and will likely lead to some kind of revolt from users.
What Else You Need To Know
- Based on the growing number of mobile users, Facebook said the revamped design will offer the same user interface for both mobile and web users.
- The redesigned News Feed will allow users to segment it into different categories including a "Photos" feed of Facebook and Instagram pictures, "Music" feed of what their friends are listening to, a "Friends Only" for their friends' postings, and a "Following" feed for brands, publications and celebrities that they follow.
- News Feed now segregates friends' and brands' postings in separate "Friends Only" and "Following" feeds, but a report says that ads will still appear in the friends-only feed.
- Since turning public in May last year, Facebook has been under pressure from shareholders to monetize its more than 1 billion monthly active users.
Other sources
Today's News Feed announcement makes clear that Facebook wants to be a player. Right here, right now, battling it out with Twitter for real-time coverage.- Owen Thomas, Business Insider
To get similar UI across devices, something had to go -- and come, too.- Joe Wilcox, Beta News
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