Facebook changes their format and The Beacon gets reactions from faculty, staff and students
By Jessie Hethcoat
The recent reformatting of the popular social networking site Facebook has caused quite a stir, especially within the college community, the websiteâ?TMs main demographic. â?©With the change, Facebook kept its identity by not getting rid of its signature font, colors or general aesthetic. It also kept the status updates and the Facebook basic organization of having a home page, a profile page, a message inbox and so on. â?©However, the layouts of most pages have been altered. â?©Ã¢?oeMy guess is that they were trying to declutter things,â?? Michael Rabby, professor of Communication Studies, said. â?©Rabby said he recognizes what Facebook was trying to accomplish with the change. â?©He also recalled the summer of 2006, when Facebook released the â?oeNews Feedâ?? as part of the home page. â?©Ã¢?oePeople hated the â?~News Feed,â?TMâ?? Rabby said. â?oeThey felt like they were being stalked.â?? â?©The â?oeNews Feedâ?? today is considered a Facebook staple. Because it releases changes to userâ?TMs profiles onto a list of â?oenews,â?? knowing your friendsâ?TM relationship statuses before they tell you in person has been made socially acceptable.â?©Freshman Gabby Hansen said, â?oeI keep trying to move my mouse up and right, forgetting that â?~homeâ?TM isnâ?TMt there anymore!â?? â?©For those who spend significant portions of their day on Facebook, not knowing how to find your â?oehomeâ?? can be traumatic. â?©Student Activities director Jeromy Koffler, who uses Facebook regularly, is an advocate of the new Facebook. â?©Ã¢?oeFacebook needed to expand because of the amount of content that was filling up each page. Instead of creating a screenshot of who you are, itâ?TMs is now more of a book.â?? â?©On each individualâ?TMs profile, wall posts, general information and photos are separated into tabs; so that they can be clicked to link to different pages of the profile. â?©The old Facebook tried cramming this all onto one page, which meant scrolling up and down pages attempting to find a wall. â?©Instead, Facebook profiles now have layers, like onions or parfaits.â?©Some UP students are surprisingly apathetic about the change. â?oeI donâ?TMt care. I still get one friend request a day,â?? freshman Kyle Cochran said. â?©Nonetheless, the general consensus seems to match the conviction of sophomore Alissa Robertson-Witt. â?©Ã¢?oeI canâ?TMt seem to find anything on Facebook anymore,â?? Robertson-Witt said. â?oeIt was confusing before, but now itâ?TMs just plain impossible.â??â?©It may just be that people arenâ?TMt opposed to the new Facebook because it is inefficient.â?©As Rabby suggested, they could be opposed to the new Facebook just because theyâ?TMre opposed to change. â?©
