Facebook has announced that one of its users favorite events is about to occur. A redesign.
The social network will once again update its frequently updated news feed section, but instead of making it more complicated and angering users, the company said it is taking the opposite track and simplifying the site. Part of the new redesign was inspired by its (failed) attempt last year to introduce a revamped news feed. Facebook will keep the larger images and that is about it.
"You may recall that last year we experimented with a complete redesign of News Feed for desktop and mobile. People who tested it told us that they liked the bigger photos and images, but found it more difficult to navigate Facebook overall. The updated design has the best of both worlds: it keeps the layout and navigation people liked, but offers bigger images and photos, as well as a new font," the company said on its website.
Facebook took pains to note that everything else will remain the same.
The new look has images that fill the entire center column of a Facebook page, while the current version instead leaves quite a bit of white space on each side of the image. There will be no change to the mobile site, though the new website update does bear a very strong resemblance to the mobile site now.
In another bit of good news, Facebook said this update is purely physical and does not change how stories are ranked in News Feed.
"Though in the new design all images are larger, both organic stories and ads will be the same size - similar to the way images appear on mobile," Facebook said.
The changes will take place over the next few weeks.
Facebook execs are probably hoping that by limiting the change it will not lead to 25 million negative posts on its own site, which is the usual result when the company decides to alter its user experience.
Even if the design rollout goes smoothly, Mark Zuckerberg's organization has been busy generating controversy in other areas. It also announced that it would no longer host gun sales and promotions.
"We will not permit people to post offers to sell regulated items that indicate a willingness to evade or help others evade the law," Monika Bickert, Facebook's head of global policy management, said in a statement.
Here is the new look:
