For reasons mainly unknown, everyone's favorite social networking site, Facebook, occasionally "upgrades" its layout in hopes of making things more user-friendly. Typically, these changes annoy users for one or two days, and then everything calms down as Facebookers grow used to the update and oftentimes begin to genuinely like it. Unfortunately, the latest update that was implemented on Wednesday, September 21, 2011has thrown "webbies" into an uproar, the likes of which have not been seen since 11-year-old Jessi Slaughter lied to a nation back in 2010.
"What is this?!" Mariah Pinotti exclaimed once seeing the new changes. "Facebook has turned into complete derp! What is going on?!"
The main issue is the site's interface, which now resembles a jumbled, ADD-stricken mess to many users. Gone is the popular "Most Recent" tab. In its place is the currently loathed "Top Stories" tab, which uses a special algorithm to determine what pictures, statuses, links, etc. are most important to each individual user based on which friends and apps they interact with the most. By Wednesday evening, Facebook executives admitted the algorithm was still a work-in-progress, leaving users with a mess in the wake of the latest change.
"All Facebook has accomplished is taking more and more of the things I want to see away from me!" raged Lauren Wright, one of the millions of angry Facebookers. "I don't want an algorithm. If I am someone's friend on here, it's probably because I want to see their updates!"
"Looks like Facebook's code monkeys caught ADD," agreed Wright's boyfriend, Michael Burns.
Why ADD? Also added in the update is "The Ticker", a Twitter-like feature that posts real-time updates from friends. Did someone write a new status? It pops up on The Ticker. Did someone add a new photo album to his or her profile? It pops up on The Ticker. Did someone you've never even heard of before write on one of your friends' walls? It pops up on The Ticker.
Yes, you read that right. Even people who are not your Facebook friends show up in The Ticker if they interact with someone who is your friend, presumably to encourage further networking. However, the unpredictability of The Ticker combined with the overall clutter and confusion of the new interface have caused many to branch out into new forms of social networking.
While Twitter and Tumblr have thrived for years and have not really seen much of a user increase since the latest change, Google+--the fledgling social network developed by Google executives during Summer 2011--has seen quite a boom. Although many Facebook users acquired a Google+ account once the beta was released months ago, most did not use it due to Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr's glaring popularity. Now, the News Feed on Google+ is bursting with excitement, and many are begging for invites to the site since Google+ remains to be an invitation-only phenomenon.
"Simplicity equals better," Rachel Muir said. "That's why I use Google+ instead of Facebook."
Only time will tell if Google+ will now become a force to be reckoned with or if Facebook will recover from the ferocious backlash to once again reign supreme over the social networking world. The only fact at this point is that this is just the beginning. "Prepare yourselves for the evolution of social networking," said Facebook spokesperson Ben Parr, announcing that the interface will continue to experience many changes over the next few months as the entire site is revamped to include streaming music and videos on users' profile pages. With simplicity being one of the major reasons Facebook grew to mass popularity at the end of the last decade, it seems like CEO and President Mark Zuckerberg is messing with a good thing.
"Is Tom from MySpace designing this garbage?" questioned disgruntled Facebook user Siobhan Grey, who has since switched over to Google+.
What is this MySpace? Does anyone actually remember that site anymore? Facebook's interface is definitely starting to resemble MySpace's layout before the latter site's death in 2010. Zuckerberg needs to think twice before continually angering his consumers, especially with sites like Twitter, Tumblr, and Google+ looking to bury Facebook six-feet-deep like its predecessor.
is a member of the 
