Why Do People Hate the New Facebook Design?

by Todd on August 3, 2008

UPDATE: This post was written about the Facebook changes in August of 2008, if you’d like to read my post on the newest Facebook changes (March 2009) you can see that post here. Please comment and let me know how you like the changes.

Recently, Facebook announced the pre-release of their new layout. The new design has been in the works for some time now. It’s supposed to be cleaner (take out some of the clutter) while also making a few items easier to find by categorizing them into tabs instead of one long scrolling page.


If you were bold enough, you could change to the new layout early by going to www.new.facebook.com. If you liked it you could leave it there (the system would remember your choice) or switch back to the old layout. I left mine there to try it out and see if I could get used to it.

I’m guessing that Facebook has rolled out the new design to everyone since I’ve been seeing a lot of status messages from friends about the new layout. So far, I have yet to see a positive comment. Here are the three latest I have:

  • isn’t sure he’s on board with the new facebook layout.
  • is really disliking the new Facebook design.
  • agrees with her friends…the old Facebook layout beats the new one.

But I thought maybe it was just my friends who didn’t like it. So I figured I’d try a Twitter search for ‘Facebook layout’ and see what I came up with.

  • the new facebook layout has rendered that place even more useless.
  • right now I HATE the new Facebook layout (but will probably acclimate to it over time)
  • is only going to communicate via twitter until they give me my facebook layout back.
  • Thankfully I mainly use Facebook off of my iPhone, so I generally don’t get bothered by the new crappy layout.
  • invited you to join the group “1,000,000 AGAINST THE NEW FACEBOOK LAYOUT!”
  • hates the new facebook layout
  • The “new” Facebook is horrid. Some cool new Ajax features and whatnot but the layout is blinding and confusing.

That was just the first page of results. There were about three positive comments but the overwhelming majority were negative.

The general feel I get is that the new layout is not a fan favorite…but why? Are people just so used to something that they refuse to try and locate their favorite items? Is the look just not appealing to them? Or is it that they like the cluttered look… less clicks but lots of scrolling?

I think it comes down to change. People are afraid of change. They didn’t ask for this change so when it’s forced upon them (even though you can still switch back) it’s met with resentment and hostility.

I for one DO NOT hate the new layout. I find that it is a lot cleaner. The cluttered Applications section can be tucked away so that you can only show the ones you want/need on your wall tab. My ‘home’ section fits a lot more so there’s less scrolling which I find a plus. On my profile page, I love the new tabs and the fact that I can add more tabs to keep frequently accessed items right at the top. Maybe I’m just not your typical user though.

Do you hate the new Facebook layout? Why? What was it about the old layout that made you feel all warm and fuzzy. I’d love to hear more detailed responses. Post your comments below.

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Tagged as: Facebook, Reviews

  • http://mercurie.blogspot.com/ Mercurie

    I hate the new Facebook design for the simple reason that I want everything I use on one page and quickly accessible to me. Quite simply, I prefer scrolling to clicking. To me the new Facebook is quite simply awkward and inconvenient. And I hate combing the Wall and the news feed. That is a bad idea. It’s hard to see posts from the Wall from all news stories.

  • Pranjali

    I understand your theory on how a lot of people “hate change”, but this new layout is extremely different than the old version. Also, you cannot go back to the old version anymore, it is permanently the new layout (from what I saw when I signed in today). It may take some time to get used to. Our “About Me’s” have disappeared and my profile page is not how I want it to be. But great post :)

  • Shauna

    I’m glad I’m not alone! I was a bit iffy about the home page for the new Facebook, but it only took a few hours of playing around and I can’t go back. I hate clutter, I hate scrolling. In the old Facebook, I’d constantly switch around my apps on my pages because I couldn’t decide what I wanted people to see first when getting to my page. Now they can see a quick glance at my profile, more info, and then my apps to see what my interests are. Plus putting an entire application into one tab is pretty sweet if I want to take Extended Info and fill it with all of my quotes for easy finding.

    However, I HAVE found three things that need to be changed: I’m constantly getting “Ashley is a fan of Heath Ledger’s Joker!” on the news feed even though she did that nearly three weeks ago. I tend to get a LOT of old news pop up for some reason. I think this may be a bug, but regardless it’s annoying. I’d also love to be able to keep Live News Feed on constantly instead of Top Stories. Top Stories usually tells me more about what’s going on than LNF since LNF is generally out of order and out of date. The last thing that needs to be changed is that there needs to be a way to make new tabs for several applications. I’d love to put my Addicted To apps in one tab instead of grouping them with my class schedule and Countdown.

  • katie

    hmmm, you’d think if you knew users were specifically resistant to change (see 2006), you wouldn’t throw them out of their houses and throw their stuff all over the street in one fell swoop. and how the heck is turning one page into FOUR pages reducing clutter?? the main page includes size 20 font mixed in with various different fonts and feed items, its a complete MESS. most importantly, the user has no control, its like if someone came in and redecorated my apartment, but didnt allow me to put up any pictures or any other items to convey their personality. it’s fine if they say you need to limit the number of apps on the main page, but to actually tell me some apps are not allowed to be shown on the main page?? what is not understood is that some apps show ppl’s personality and individuality. when you take control over someone’s page, it is no longer theirs. facebook is now just one big IM-fest. fb needs to understand that ppl use fb for different reasons and one person’s junk is another person’s treasure.

    the anti-fb new design group is now 1.4 million users.

  • http://plzkthxbai.com Jason Wagner

    Hey! I really like your post. I was just inspired to post the same exact thing on my blog (plzkthxbai.com) and decided to search around google afterwards to see what else was out there and found your post. I think it’s funny that we made essentially the same points and have the same thoughts on the topic. I wish people would just realize that it’s not soo bad!! lol

    Jason

  • PJ

    If people get use it more and figure things out they would realize there are fixes for what they think are problems with the new Facebook:
    @Mercurie – It’s hard to see posts from the Wall from all news stories.
    On anyone’s wall just click “Posts By Others” and that’ll help.
    @Pranjali – Our “About Me’s” have disappeared
    Click on the “Info” tab. It’s right there.
    @katie – how the heck is turning one page into FOUR pages reducing clutter??
    It categorized everything so it’s quicker to find. How easy and clean was it to find an app on someone’s page if they have over a dozen apps?
    - main page includes size 20 font
    Only thing I see that’s a larger font are the Status Updates and they are only size 14. It’s not that bad at all. There aren’t ANY different fonts anywhere.
    - some apps are not allowed to be shown on the main page??
    I don’t know which apps you are talking about but all the apps in that I have in my “Boxes” tab can be moved to the wall. Click the Pencil Icon on the top right of a box and you’ll see “Move to wall”.

    The only thing I don’t like is the Photos tab. People have a number in the thousands of tagged photos now. Clicking only two pages ahead takes forever to go to older photos. The trick with the old Facebook was you could manually put a page number in the URL but now it’s all Web 2.0 looking. They need to add box to put a page number.

  • Chris

    If users want more “control” then they can go back to the illegible mess of myspace. Myspace is what happens when you give the user too much control. There is a reason you need a degree to get a job designing websites.

  • Arnes

    I hate the new design too! One of the reasons is it’s a bit counfusing and THOSE PICTURES on the right side? Helloooo?!? Some ppl have sucky limited bandwidth!!!
    Spread your anger and don’t be fooled by those disinfo agents who try to tell you thats it’s ok. I’m a USER – Facebook MAKES A LOT OF MONEY on ppl like us. So why do we need to accept quietly everything they decide??? We’re not some mindless animals! If I don’t like it I have every right to say that!!!

  • Arnes

    Everybody I know doesn’t like the new design. I don’t know what “information” Zuckerberg got and how he got them(did they ask every user on fb what they think about it? ~ And these majority of users who like new design,as they say, how do they know this??? Just becouse ppl can’t do anything about something doesn’t mean that ppl like it Zuckerberg!!!) That’s why ppl join massivly to anti-new design groups. Becouse they want to be heard!!!!!
    Here are some groups please join them and lets make our voice stronger! Only together can we prevail!!!

    http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=73139411001

  • http://cantondog.com/2009/03/more-hate-for-facebook-home-pages-get-new-layout-too/ More Hate for Facebook? – Home Pages Get New Layout Too | CantonDog

    [...] already begun to see negative comments about Facebook’s new layout. Similar to the last time Facebook changed users’ home pages. Mostly in my day-to-day travels. So back to the Twitter search I went to see the buzz. Not too [...]

  • http://cantondog.com/2009/05/facebook-adds-more-features-to-chat/ Facebook Adds More Features to Chat | CantonDog

    [...] on May.14, 2009, under Social Media Among the recent wave of Facebook changes that seem to have everyone up in arms (although I think people are getting used to it now). Facebook changed something and did it right [...]

  • http://www.joshvandervies.com/ Josh

    I wrestled with changes to Facebook, and wrote an article about it: http://bit.ly/9GM8bD I'm glad I have dealt with this irrational fear of change. The new design seems pretty intuitive.

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