New Facebook on the way, like it or not
So this is the week when Facebook users are supposed to switch over to social networking site’s new look interface. Apparently this switch-over, which has been in the works for some time now, isn’t going over all that well with some Facebook users.
Here’s an Associated Press story looks at why this change is happening:
Facebook’s facelift separates users’ personal profiles into different areas of the site and provides more tools that are meant to make it easier to share information and photos.
The revisions also shift various applications to the bottom of a person’s home page and clears up more white space - a move that Sanders worries will lead to more intrusive advertising on the site, although Zuckerberg says that won’t happen.
And how it’s being received.
About 40 million users already have checked out the new design and about 30 million embraced it without reverting to the old look, Zuckerberg said. But the seeds of an uprising already have been planted on Facebook’s own site, where several groups and petitions have cropped up to protest the change.
It’s interesting to me how different people react to this sort of thing. I mean, even with the change, Facebook remains pretty conservative compared to, say, the typical brain-bending MySpace page.
Have you tried out the new look yet? Love it? Hate it?
Tim has covered a wide range of topics, including tourism, crime, aviation and gambling, since becoming a reporter in 1990. The Oklahoma native joined the Post-Dispatch in 2007 after spending nine years in Orlando. In his spare time, he's often exploring one virtual world or another. He can be reached at tbarker@post-dispatch.com. 
It’s not bad. I didn’t care for it much at first, but it’s ok now.
I think facebook suffers more from redundant functionality that isn’t clearly thought out - like on the multiple places where you can make comments.
I didn’t care for it at first, but with the way they’re redone it, it makes it easier to find stuff on people’s profiles, plus it takes less time for profile pages to download, too, so overall, I’d have to say I like it.
God, it’s permanent? I was hoping it would stay optional. I switched for a couple of days and switched back to the old because I like the functionality better. Oh well, I like MySpace better anyway. I suppose I’ll live.
Mine still gives me the option to change back to the old version. But I understand they plan to take that away fairly soon.
Hate it. Every once in a while I give the new look a try, but I switch back almost immediately. There’s no apparent grid or logical structure to the layout. Everything’s just floating in a sea of white.
The whitespace along the sides is clearly destined to become a circus of obnoxious advertising. It’s the beginning of the end for Facebook.
i think….that this is not newsworthy
I honestly don’t like it. The old look was much more functional and easier to navigate. I don’t like the way comments show up in between things posted to my profile. It’s very jumbled.
i was only on facebook for 2 weeks before it switched over, but i can’t tell much of a difference.
Really? Are we really talking about Facebook on a legit news site? Newsworthy? I think not. Especially as one of the main stories. There HAVE to be more interesting, more newsworthy, more WORTHY things happening in the good old STL!
Facebook is Facebook, no matter what it looks like. What’s the big deal?
Generally, the new look isn’t bad - but there are a few things the old one did that this one doesn’t. Like show you the captions of people’s pictures when you mouse over the thumbnail when viewing the entire album. In the new version you have to open each picture to see the captions which I find annoying.
And I agree that having wall posts mixed in with other activites is very annoying as well.
I do not like it at all! Leave it the way it was!!
this is pathetic that this is on a newspaper’s headlines
I like it. I think that some areas of Facebook will be overlooked because they are in separate from each other. Now if they could just get a scrolling news ticker that we can customize to receive news, sports, weather etc, that would make it just one step better.
Can anyone say “New Coke?”
I don’t like it. Pages load a lot slower and a lot of content is banished to an incomprehensible “Boxes” tab. Usability has suffered greatly. I actually compare its changes to those of this very web site earlier this summer. Sometimes simple and easy-to-use are what people want. The problem is when those in power think they understand but they don’t.
The “new” facebook is horrible it is fine the way it is. There is no need for change.
The new format will take a while to get used to, but I totally agree with your point about MySpace. That’s the main reason why I never joined; I prefer the sleek look of Facebook.