So Facebook finally acknowledged that the changes made earlier were ill considered and have issued a list of “improvements” to the previous update that most annoyed users. Key for me will be additional functionality so that you can customize the feed from applications used by your friends. Currently whatever application used by your friend is fully described in your newsfeed which causes feeds from other friends to be pushed down the list and sometimes missed.
The workaround that Facebook proposed to my criticism of the above problem was to use the friend filter on the left part of the screen. This filter function will be further enhanced so that it will be easier for you to group your friends and even prioritize the feed. Other improvements will be a more real-time feed which is more similar to that offered by Twitter. They are also working to move important updates like friend requests and invites to a more prominent location on the screen. We were so used to having it on the top right that some of us didn’t realize it had moved to a location in the top center of the page. I expect it will move back to the top right.
So things are back to normal in the Facebook world or as normal as could be expected. I’m sincerely grateful that Facebook has heard our concerns and taken the trouble to make the necessary amendments to keep all parties happy. Some commentators have noted that this report was issued by Christopher Cox (Director of Product) instead of Mark Z and tried to read some insidious politics behind it. In truth, as Director of Product, these changes and associated feedback should be in the area of responsibility of Mr Cox. Mark as CEO should realize that he is responsible for shareholder returns and profitability and focus on that instead. Hopefully he has realized that now.
Tong Hsien-Hui
Some Meowsings...... 