Facebook changes and this time it’s for better
The venerable Winston Churchill once said, “to improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often.” There is great wisdom in those words; they pretty much summarize the tech industry. We think that Facebook takes Mr Churchill’s words to heart as they are always changing. The latest development brings a whole bunch of updates, mostly related around security and how Facebook presents and uses your information.
Facebook’s changes should have been made to your profile by the time you read this. If not, you should see them by early January. Below is an overview of the more important features.
Security shortcuts One of the more common complaints about Facebook was that it’s hard to change or even find your security settings. The update puts a button in the blue bar beside you name at the top of the window (it looks like a lock). When you press on it you are given three of the most popular Security requests:
- Who can see my stuff?
- Who can contact me?
- How do I stop someone from bothering me?
You’ll notice grey arrows beside each choice. Pressing these will bring up the associated options and allow you to easily adjust your security settings.
App permissions The app is an essential part of not only Facebook but the tech industry. When first introduced apps could collect your data and send it to the producer of the app. This managed to tick off a lot of users, so Facebook started giving users the option on whether the app was allowed to send their information to the app’s producer or allow the app to post on your wall on your behalf.
With the new update, when you try to add an app to your profile you’ll get a big pop-up window asking you to grant the app access permission, or the ability to collect your information. You can then pick the settings you prefer.
Timeline clarification When Timeline was introduced, the vast majority of users disliked it. Now that some time has passed they have gotten used to it. The big problem most have with Timeline is that anything you posted, commented on or did stays visible on your profile. You had the option to hide stuff but it was terribly confusing as it still stayed on your profile.
The update clarifies this by giving you a warning when you hide something from your Timeline. If you want to expunge something from your timeline, you need to delete it, otherwise it will still show up if someone does a bit of digging.
No hiding from search In the past you had the option to keep your profile and information from showing up in search results when someone looks for you. Facebook has removed this option, meaning you will now show up in search results. We don’t think this will harm many companies seeing as this is a social network and you really do want to be social and be able to be found by interested parties.
Improved Activity Log The Activity Log tracks everything you’ve done on Facebook. Keen on Farmville? Every action and achievement is recorded here. The big change here is that Facebook has made it easier to browse your activity by implementing a timeline to the right of the window. Facebook has also made it easier to find specific things like pictures and change them all in one go.
Overall, these changes appear to make Facebook better and easier to use. While not major differences, it’s now easier to maintain control of your profile. If you would like to learn more about how Facebook can help your company please contact us.
