Updates to social network leave users frustrated, needing adaptation
I don't mind if Facebook wants to update the website, but the drastic changes it has made foster an environment for information overload. The new Facebook has at least three news feeds on the home page, and it prioritizes content for you by categorizing updates into Top Stories, Most Recent Stories and a section above the chat box that has instant updates. Instead of having to seek out their friends or specific information, Facebook's constant update section provides it for the users on the main page.
Our generation is often accused of being multitaskers. We simultaneously do homework, watch TV and check our various email and social networking sites. I've heard negative criticism concerning our tendencies to try and accomplish several tasks at once. Instead of being able to accomplish any one thing well, we tend to do many things halfheartedly. Facebook may be trying to cater to these aspects of our personalities.
Facebook may be feeling intense pressure to remain competitive with social networking sites like Twitter that focus more on instant updates. Or it's trying to keep its current users from switching to Google's social networking site Google+. Either way, Facebook's users use the website because they know what to expect from it, and clearly changes are not received well. If Facebook wants to be competitive it should continue to be a reliable social networking site that is easy to use and doesn't try to reflect popular characteristics of other websites.
Perhaps because Facebook is such a strong part of our generation that when we feel like it's drastically changing, our culture is drastically changing, too. But we will adapt as we did when we made the transition from MySpace to Facebook. So as the posters that hang in many dorm rooms say, originating from British war propaganda during World War II, "Keep calm and carry on."
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