A face-lift for Facebook (week in review)
An excited CEO Mark Zuckerberg showed off Facebook's new look this week at a developer's conference in San Francisco, just as Meg Whitman took the help at HP. Also, more Netflix turbulence.
Timeline, he explained, is "the story of your life," significantly altering the way people's information is displayed on the site, presenting "all your stories, all your apps, and a new way to express who you are." And Open Graph's most prominent new feature, Ticker, gives users a way to express "lightweight" actions, thoughts, and likes anytime they want, without cluttering other friends' feeds, Zuckerberg explained.
While the changes are some of the most drastic ever made to the site, not everyone likes them. Some are a bitcreeped out by the potential privacy invasion. And users who discovered the Twitter-like Ticker in their news feeds Wednesday--before Zuckerberg's announcement of the feature at F8--complained about clutter and confusion.
As CNET's Rafe Needleman points out, Google should also be worried. Google's algorithm has always connected people to information. Facebook's has traditionally connected people to people. But now Facebook is moving onto Google's turf.
Open Graph and Ticker will be rolled out slowly, giving developers a chance to create apps for Timeline. However, the new elements of Open Graph that help people discover media content like music, movies, TV, and news will be available immediately.
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