Facebook Changes: Users Overwhelmingly ‘Dislike’ new News Feed and Ticker

The Facebook modifications were revealed just as rival Google+ opened up to all Web users. And Facebook isn't finished yet, the social media giant's CEO Mark Zuckerburg unveiled a host of new features on Thursday during the f8 developers' conference in San Francisco.

Users, furious over the changes, were not waiting for the additional announcements at the f8 to voice their concerns.

Reaction to our article yesterday on the Facebook changes was overwhelmingly negative.

I_envy_jumpers writes:

NO! Facebook is turning into everything I hated about myspace...=(

Several readers voiced a desire to leave Facebook and hoped for another alternative.

Tena Heffernan says:

I hope someone comes up with a reasonable alternative to facebook soon! I will leave for sure. I HATE all of the changes they make all the time! If they want to improve things, then add optional improvements not mandatory changes!!!

Busta607 argues:

Why try to fix what wasn't broken? I hate it and they just keep making it worse. Myspace ruined themselves by doing the same thing.

All told, there was not a single positive comment on the new changes.

Judging from early reactions, you'd be hard-pressed to find a Facebook user that actually likes them. Just about the only thing users aren't complaining about are the bigger pictures.

Though Facebook has been in a near-constant state of change over the years, the newest updates come with some of the harshest criticism. The once-simple screen is now partitioned into a real-time scroll and a permanently opened chat - and that's just the beginning.

Comments on the Facebook blog about the new changes have been tremendously negative.

One user comments:

Lame. Quite frankly I don't want Facebook deciding who is most important in my life. I want my news feed to just go chronologically and if I want to hide posts from someone, I will. Stop changing. You're becoming MySpace and I left there for a reason.

Her comment received nearly 1,500 likes.

Another user adds:

Facebook, you're not near as smart as you think you are. Your algorithms for deciding what I want to see, who I want to talk to or what I think is important are 99.999% of the time the exact polar opposite of what I want. Everything you do to try to simplify things only complicates things more. Every attempt you make to improve things inevitably ends up in a HUGE step backwards.

The complaints went beyond Facebook. The term #NewFacebook was one of the top trending twitter topics on Wednesday, with many users voicing anger over the changes.

Facebook changes was also a top Google search on Wednesday.

So what's all the fuss about?

Here's a quick overview of some of the changes:

New News Feed

This is far and wide the most controversial change. The new news feed completely alters the look of the Facebook home page.

All your news is now in one place, Facebook claims. Top stories since you last visited are at the top and marked with a blue corner, while recent stories are found below in the order in which they were posted.

According to Facebook:

We determine whether something is a top story. This isn't going over so well!

So how do they do it?

[They're chosen] based on lots of factors, including your relationship to the person who posted the story, how many comments and likes it got, what type of story it is, etc. For example, a friend's status update that might not normally be a top story may become a top story after many other friends comment on it.

You can, however, filter by friend lists and hide an individual or story type.

More details on the News Feed can be found HERE

Improved Friends List

If you've checked your friend list, you've probably noticed that a new cluster of friends has magically appeared. New groupings like your high school, employer, city, or family are there for a reason. With the new improved friends list, you can post updates straight to the friends and family who will find them the most interesting, without worrying about bothering anyone else.

Let's say you want to post a recipe, but you don't need your friends from work viewing it. Now, you can post the recipe directly to your family.

Or, say you want to share a work joke, but don't want your family to see it. You can do the opposite and post it to your work friends directly.

More details on the Improved Friends List can be found HERE

Subscribe Button

Using this button enables you to pick and choose the types of content you would like to see from individual friends. You can include in your news feed all, most, or only the most important information from each of your pals.

Also, this feature gives you the ability to follow the lives and actions of the interesting people that you aren't friends with.

More details on the Subscribe Button can be found HERE

News Ticker

A lot of people are annoyed by this new feature, and there is actually a way to turn if off for chrome users.

In an attempt at making up for the former Most Recent news feed, Facebook added a news ticker-like scroll in the top-right corner of the screen. The ticker shows friends' most recent updates in chronological order. If you click on the updates, it shows the full story and all related comments and likes.

Those are the major changes that are already in effect. Get ready for Facebook Timeline (that allows users to easily browse through the history of their activity on Facebook) as well as music and video integration and more.

As always, feel free to comment below and let us know what you think about the changes.