It’s been a busy couple of months for Facebook and its 750 million users.
The company has recently updated several features on its Web site, including adding increased privacy settings, smarter lists of friends, a redesigned news feed and the ability to subscribe to stranger’s news feeds on the site.
I personally like the Facebook updates — although some do feel a little too much like Twitter or Google+. The subscribe button finally offers people a way to stay in touch with others without having to be friends. I’m also willing to take any added clarity to Facebook’s privacy settings, which have been notoriously confusing in the past.
More important than my thoughts, there are 749,999,999 other people who have opinions about the site’s changes too. I asked people on Twitter and Facebook to share their thoughts about the latest site updates. Here’s what they had to say.
There are those who dislike the updates:
“NOT a fan.” – Natalia Farhadmotamed
“HATE the scrolling news feed on the upper right.” – Susan Mernit
“I’ve seen every version of Facebook from the start. All of their changes seem to be knee-jerk reactions due to competitors.” – Hillary Mc Namara
“The TMI/stalker window on the right is rather annoying…especially since I don’t know how to turn off…” R. George K.
“I do not like the updates at all, but then again, change is scary to me (and most consumers).” – Michelle Masek
Some who love the updates:
“I’m kinda liking it. I feel like the main feed was always being selective about what it was choosing to show me – and I was missing out on updates from friends that I rarely interacted with.” – Steven Heintz
“Subscribe is great, so is the ticker. Smart Lists are great unless your friends list their school as Hogwarts.” – Shawn Ingram
“I really like the new picture display in the newsfeed. That perhaps is my favorite new feature. I also do like the smart newsfeed more than I thought I would.” – Joe Ciarallo
And many users are unsure about all the changes, while some still yearn for other new features:
“How bout a very much needed “Unlike” button please.” – Ghada Khunji
“In short, it’s now a social consumption site, not a social network.” – Adena DeMonte.
“Maybe It’s a matter of getting used to it, but I’d like my old FB back…” – Kelly Rooney
“Generally like them, but will need to get used to idea of subscribing to people I’m not friends with… Have managed to keep Facebook “friends only” for 7 years and prefer reading biz/celeb stuff on Twitter. Now lines blurring.” – Dan Frommer
What do you think? Do you like the latest Facebook updates or does it feel like the company is trying too much to compete with Twitter and Google+?