Why The New Facebook Rocks: Increased Interaction
October 21, 2008 – 11:09 am | by Daryl TayI wanted to talk about this post by Hutch Carpenter awhile back. The basic idea that he says is that Facebook is getting his attention again because of the increased interaction in his network.
The same applies for me. Previously I spent maybe ten minutes a day on Facebook, logging in just to check message or development in groups, now when I use Facebook, it’s open almost the whole time I’m online so I can check for new status updates, photos, posted items and the like. It’s brought much more value to me than the old Facebook where I see whose egg hatched into a dinosaur.
I read somewhere about Facebook applications talk about losing a lot of traffic literally overnight, which I suppose is inevitable since interaction seems to be the new focus of Facebook, not applications. That said, I believe that if you have a truly fun application, people will still visit it regardless. I still go to Visual Bookshelf and Premier League Picks, for example.
When I first started using Twitter, I tried to explain to people that it was like updating your Facebook status, and now with Facebook’s ability to comment on status updates, I think they’ve really grasped the Twitter concept and made it into a very powerful one. Hutch gives examples of how much more interaction he has on Facebook compared to Twitter for the same update. On many levels it makes a lot of sense. Would I bring my friends over to Twitter if there’s a powerful equivalent on Facebook where my friends already are?
i guess it’s easy for the social media types like us to appreciate the new Facebook, but I really want to hear from the average users. Those who used to use Facebook to throw sheep or rate friends. How does the new Facebook work for you? Does the increased interaction make a difference? Please comment!
Tags: facebook status updates, hatching eggs, hutch carpenter, increased facebook interaction, new facebook, new facebook layout, premier league picks, twitter, visual bookshelf
6 Responses to “Why The New Facebook Rocks: Increased Interaction”
By Jonathan Kong on Oct 21, 2008 | Reply
Contrary to many of my friends on FB who hates the new UI, I find it better in aggregating my friend’s digital footprint in FB. It’s all within a tab or two. It’s convenient and it’s more social.
It has better privacy controls than before too. One thing I’m not particular happy about is removal of applications. Users might miss it altogether as it’s sitting right at the bottom and require a few clicks to remove them.
It used to be that a profile page load apps and all in one page so with the new UI and tabbing in place, users might miss it. I like it tho, page loads faster than before.
By Su Yuen on Oct 21, 2008 | Reply
I prefer the new FB interface to the old one as it is much more cleaner and easier to navigate.
On the comments about the apps, I actually feel that application developers benefit more as now activities their friends are performing on FB apps actually get sent to the user’s notifications in the bottom right bar. This attracts attention to applications where with the old interface, these were seen as “noise” and often ignored.
And yes, you are right on the point about good apps with good interactions are still popular. An example is PackRat which until today has 73K active users per month. The game is fun, addictive and growing daily as time goes by with the new interface
By iammyy on Oct 21, 2008 | Reply
I think the new Facebook UI is way neater than the old one. It took me some time to get used to the changes but I’d say it looks good and works well (so far). Page loading is much faster compared to the old facebook too.
I like the bookmark bar best because you don’t have to search for your applications anymore ! And of course,your mentioned status updates page does wonders – distraction in class! =x
By Ange on Oct 21, 2008 | Reply
I know there are FB groups created wanting the old interface back, but the new one gives a lot more of real-time. I personally use the Twitter app on FB, so that my twitters translates to FB statuses. It’s useful really, especially since the commenting on them is just one click away.
I suppose it has become a new playground, sharing photos become so convenient and that FB photo upload rush happens with my friends after every party/ball/dinner we took pictures in.
It’s awesome really. It’s probably the no.2 medium of interaction for my friends and I online. Most possibly following behind Windows Live Messenger and even before blogs.
By Daryl Tay on Oct 21, 2008 | Reply
@Jonathan & Su Yuen: Yes I think convenience, speed and organisation are things I appreciate most about it. Previously I had to hunt hard for almost everything, that I usually just gave up
@iammyy: Yup! It’s a good change, I think! I’ve never actually played wit the bookmark bar… I should take a look!
@Ange: Yes definitely the “photos” tab has made life much easier for me too. It’s probably #2 for me as well, behind IM. Blogs don’t even factor in, mostly.
By Cass on Oct 23, 2008 | Reply
Hi Daryl – first time commenting
From my friends’ (non-social media users) points of view, the increased opportunity for interaction is probably a small plus, if it’s even factored in at all. I’ve seen comments on statuses, but by the same pple who were vocal before the change, and I don’t think that that many have grasped the new opportunities here, because the commenting doesn’t extend to the other updates that can be commented on (eg. joining a new group, relationship statuses etc) I don’t think many users ‘get’ the real-time feed, whereas for friendfeed users it’s a familiar and useful feature.
My friends seem to prefer the old FB interface because they find it easier to access things, while the new FB splits up things unnecessarily. (of course as a social media user I love the new stuff this surfaces and the greater filtering capabilities!) Hopefully, they will eventually be eased into the idea of increased interactivity and participate more