Whether checking your Facebook page every day or once a week it was impossible to ignore the changes happening recently. In most cases Facebook has hit us with an entirely new welcome page, news feed and key parts moved from one corner to another. However, these five changes are slightly less major, but all the same differences that will alter the way Facebook is used daily.
Groups: What was once a rather obtuse feature used by bored 14 year olds and held names such as “Fluffy Kitty Loverz”, is now an interactive tool that can be used to link your friends together. Anything from a college Fraternity, Dungeons and Dragons enthusiasts even a high school’s Student Government can form a group, have chats directly between the members, allows each member to have control within the group, along with e-mails and document sharing. What group would you like to join or create?
Chat: In the beginning there was only AIM, now Facebook Chat alone has gone through at least five changes in the past five years. Most recently they have gone from having a list of names on the left side of your newsfeed showing the friends online you chat the most, to now only showing their pictures with a tiny green (available) or grey (idle) dot placed in the corner. Within an individual chat names have disappeared and a mini profile picture appears next to the text instead. Visually appealing and streamlined or confusing… You tell us.
Photos: look at Flickr, Facebook is tackling the photo industry next. Uploading photos to Facebook has always been an option, but now it offers High Resolution uploads. They may take a few more seconds to upload completely, but the quality is well work it in the end.
Drag and Drop option: We are now able to view high quality photos within our favorite social media platform as well as easily edit the order of photos simply by dragging and dropping into a specific place while viewing them within an album. Check out the tutorial here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3ErOXH2NUY
Check in: Those of you lucky enough to have a Smartphone and Facebook app can now “check in” wherever you are. Sitting on FAU’s campus or reading a book at Starbucks, users can now let their friends know where they are. It seems to be in the beginning stages of development, but Foursquare might be gaining some more competition.
