You may recall the last Facebook newsfeed change, which gave users the option to opt out of viewing posts from company pages by selecting the ‘all friends’ sorting choice that was available. This time around, the sorting choices of ‘all friends,’ and ‘following,’ are no longer available. This means the newsfeed’s content will be dictated by Facebook’s edgerank algorithm, and users will only be able to sort their newsfeed by ‘most recent’ or ‘top stories,’ which is the default setting.
The newsfeed changes also bring a more simplified and streamlined design. Photos featured on posts will now be larger, and text will be displayed in a brand new font. A grey background will help to separate the different components of the page, which makes it easier to distinguish the newsfeed from your list of ‘favorites,’ ‘groups,’ ‘apps,’ etc. on the left hand side of the screen.
Let’s compare the new newsfeed to the soon-to-be old newsfeed. Here is what the new newsfeed will look like:
Notice the grey background and the white boxes? The font is also very different, and the stories are perfectly centered in the new layout.
Here is the current (soon-to-be old) layout:
The different page categories all tend to blend into each other, and the posts are smaller, and are not centered.
Don’t fret if your newsfeed hasn’t been updated yet. Facebook will be rolling out the new design within the next couple of weeks.
What do you think of the new newsfeed layout? We’d love to connect with you on Facebook and hear your thoughts.