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Facebook changes: like? dislike?PANAMA CITY, Sep 22, 2011 (The News Herald - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- There are two camps emerging in the great Facebook change of 2011: The folks who don't mind and the folks whose minds were blown. In case you didn't log on to the social networking website Wednesday, Facebook changed the look of the site and the way users got news about their "friends," and created a rapidly updating news feed on the right side of the page. The changes sent some folks into, if a not a rage, then a pique. Not surprisingly, they immediately went to Facebook, which has nearly a billion users worldwide, to complain about the changes in Facebook. There were sarcastic congratulations that Facebook had become the new MySpace, a failed social networking site; simple posts about how hard the new system was to use and understand; and promises to switch to Google+, Google's answer to Facebook that launched earlier this year. "Hate it," Patti Pitcher wrote on The News Herald's Facebook page when asked about the changes. Of course, this being the Internet, there were sarcastic comments on top of the sarcastic comments. "It's lame; change is bad! Ever since they pushed that 'wheel' contraption and fire on us, it's all been downhill!" local resident Jason Heath wrote when asked about the changes. Other users agreed the changes were fine. "nothing (sic) they do will bother me as long as it stays FREE to use," Tina Rudisill wrote on The News Herald's Facebook page. Facebook employee Mark Tonkelowitz wrote a post on Facebook's Facebook page to explain to users what was going on. "When you pick up a newspaper after not reading it for a week, the front page quickly clues you into the most interesting stories. In the past, News Feed hasn't worked like that. Updates slide down in chronological order so it's tough to zero in on what matters most," Tonkelowitz wrote. "Now, News Feed will act more like your own personal newspaper. You won't have to worry about missing important stuff. All your news will be in a single stream with the most interesting stories featured at the top." But users like Theresa Black, a local Realtor, said the changes convinced them to try another website. "It has been very frustrating and I actually joined Google+ today. I can't stand the fact that Facebook just can't leave things alone for longer than a month," she wrote in an email to The News Herald. "You will have just gotten used to something and they change it again. I also dislike that you have no option in the changes. They have decided what is important to me and I am missing most of the news feeds I cherish." ___ (c)2011 The News Herald (Panama City, Fla.) Visit The News Herald (Panama City, Fla.) at www.newsherald.com Distributed by MCT Information Services |