In July, Facebook revealed the “new Facebook.” Surprisingly, they made it optional. I tried it out, decided I didn’t like, and then went back to the old Facebook. According to Mashable, Facebook says only 40% of its users have even tried the new design, and some of those, like me, chose to go back to the old design after trying it. Facebook reported that “nearly 30 million” users had stuck with the new Facebook — but thats out of about 100 million total.
Now Facebook has decided that they are going to make the new design permanent. My Facebook was just forcibly switched today. It’s hard for me to pinpoint why I don’t like it. I miss the wall now that its integrated with everything else in the feed. It might just be general dislike of change. But my personal view of the new Facebook is not my point here.
I’m curious about their idea of a gradual changeover and whether its been a positive or negative influence over all. I suspect that by giving users the ability to stick to the old Facebook they increased their attachment to it. I wouldn’t have been that upset or surprised if Facebook has just suddenly shifted over in July. Now that I’ve decided to stick to the old design for so long, I’ve become even more against the new one. By giving users the choice and then taking it away they made a story of it — there are various groups against the new facebook and many users are petitioning them to change it. Of course, the same sort of hubbub was made about newsfeed, and now everyone seems okay with that, so I think this too will blow over. However, I think it would have been a better decision to just change all at once instead of pretending users had a choice in the matter. What do you think? Was the gradual change a good idea?
