Facebook is launching its newly designed News Feed at a press event Thursday at 1 p.m. EST. The News Feed is the central hub of Facebook where posts are “shared” and “liked”. Since its launch in 1996, there has been no major changes in its design.
According to reports from TechCrunch, “Facebook plans to launch new ways to filter the news feed. These include a photo feed of Facebook and Instagram photos, as well as a revamped music feed of what friends are listening to, concerts, and new albums, according to multiple sources both within and close to Facebook. Larger images and image-based ads in the web and mobile feeds are coming too.”
News Feed or the “window” is the first page users open on logging in to Facebook. This is relevant as currently the window shows a jumble of oddly related post from friends and friends of friends. There are blanks spaces on the sides which Facebook could sufficiently use to keep the user “engaged” either through apps or ads. Making the move to showcase content specific feeds would entice the user to stay longer in Facebook.
Facebook has certainly lost its initial charm among youngsters. Should a better social media with more interactive and relevant user interface emerge, there’s no telling about the loyalty of the user base. According to a report from Pew Research Center, some 60% users have taken off for a break from the social media site citing boredom and 20% have deactivated their accounts entirely.
Presenting the right content to the right people and making money of it has been Facebook’s challenge. And dividing up the News Feed as it is now, into sections and filtering the content that comes, will be welcomed and profitable. Such a move could help Facebook in increasing revenues from advertisers. An image centric feed that promotes the right product to the user who needs it the most.
The reactions from users will not all be pretty but that is to be expected from a user base of a billion people. The redesigned version is already under test in New Zealand. Check out the screenshots from Mashable.
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