Facebook makeover leaves some devotees fuming

This article is taken from Australian news website that talks about social networking site which is the Facebook that has came out with a new look and layout. However, not all users support the changes because they feel the old design is better and they are more familiar with it. Nevertheless, from the survey done more than thousands of people have registered as Facebook members. In addition, nearly 30 million of Facebook’s users have switched to the new format. Changes is made due to the feedback from users as well as the new trend in uploading videos, pictures and musings that they want to share with their friends. Facebook uphold that the changes will surely make the pages look livelier and better organised. People can also have more control over software applications they choose to install which they never had before. Nonetheless, not all gadgets were changed. Most of the mini-applications such as ‘walls’ and ‘graffiti’ were preserved. According to Boyd and Ellison (2008) one feature that differentiates Facebook from others is the ability for outside developers to build ‘applications’ that allow users to personalize their profiles and perform other tasks.

New Facebook Profile Layout

Source: Bandwidth Blog

One of the problems in changing design or layout is the defamation. Gatewood (2008) demonstrates that defamation is a false statement of fact that creates a damaging, negative image of a person or a group. In addition, audience’s acceptance is also a key step in changing the web design. The audience is the people that will visit our website. Hence, they should be our main target. We need to understand their purposes and know exactly what are they looking for when visiting our website. An overview of web design in Wikipedia (2009) emphasises that a clear goal of the website as well as an understanding of what visitor want to do or feel when they come to our website will help to identify the target audience. Although we are changing the layout, we must maintain the basic aspects of design such as the content, the usability, the appearance and the visibility. In my opinion, only a good design can attract the audience’s attention to visit our website.

Reference List

1. Boyd, D M & Ellison, N B 2008, Social Network Sites: Definition, History and Scholarship, viewed 18 November 2009, <http://www.danah.org/papers/JCMCIntro.pdf>
2. Web Design 2009, Wikipedia, viewed 18 November 2009, <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liquid_layout#Audience>