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Everything You Need To Know About Facebook’s Latest News Feed Design

Posted by Harshad

Everything You Need To Know About Facebook’s Latest News Feed Design


Everything You Need To Know About Facebook’s Latest News Feed Design

Posted: 07 Mar 2013 12:10 PM PST

The New Facebook is about you. In a new attempt to manage clutter that is invading our personal feed on Facebook, Facebook is putting all your favorite feeds into one ‘personalized newspaper’ where you can get high quality content from famous figures, relevant local sources and your social circles.

With the new design you can stay on top of a topic, or ‘drill’ into the essence of that topic – the new Facebook design allows you to dwell in both.

It’s also taking tips from Pinterest and pushing for a more visually engaging interface, putting the focus on photos instead of just pure text. The new News Feed has been designed to give us richer stories, better choice of feeds, and a more consistent user interface between desktop and mobile Facebook.

Here’s everything you need to know about Facebook’s latest News Feed redesign.

1. Customized News Feed

The things that matter only take up 40% of the real estate on your current Facebook news feed. The new design puts importance on making the stories come alive. One way is via clearer, more stunning visuals with both individual photos and full albums.

facebook new album feed

Article shares also got a facelift, giving it a more clean-cut, professional look. More of the summary is revealed and the logo of the publisher gets a bigger spotlight (it’s about time!).

2. Easier to make connections

The information put into Timeline is now better displayed to outsiders, to help make connections. The profile photo is bigger and you can see mutual friends you have with this person, right from their Facebook cover photo.

All the information you need to make the connection is at the same spot. The same is applied to pages, brands and services.

3. Check-Ins are more relatable

With the new design, when you check-in into a place, you can see the place on a map with a description of the place, which is actually a great idea. Rather than depend solely on your friends’ descriptions, you get a clearer picture of what the place is and where you can find it.

This effectively makes your friends’ adventures more relatable to you.

4. Logbook of What You Do On Third-Party Apps

Love Pinterest or Spotify? Facebook can help you track what you are doing there, giving your friends an idea of your activities outside of Facebook. It takes the repetitive work of sharing the things you do elsewhere with your friends in Facebook, and helps you curate all your actions into one feed for a more organized look.

5. Multiple-sharing highlighted

When an article or video is shared several times from different people, it no longer clutters your feed repetitively. We already have this in the current design but the new design lets you go into every single conversation that is attached to each particular share, sorted by your friend’s profile picture to the left of the article, or video, that is making recent headlines.

6. Curating made simple

Apart from articles and videos, you can also see all the postings from a single publisher, or headlines about a topic or public figure curated together for easier access. While this probably contributed to most of your clutter previously, it is now properly packaged into an easier-to-handle design.

Choice of Feeds

1. Feeds Switch

You can jump to the feeds using the switcher at the top right side of the new design. For mobile, this only takes a swipe down to find the feed you want. The Feeds Switch lets you get to the sections like how you do in a newspaper (like the sports section? Flip to the Sports section).

With the new design, you can even create your own feed e.g. make a game feed if you are an avid gamer to get all the latest about your favorite games.

2. All friends

The new design is bringing back an old friend. The All Friend feed makes a comeback and gives you the updates from everyone in your friends’ list in a single feed and in chronological order. Don’t worry, there is a separate feed for Close Friends so all that sorting will still come to good use.

3. Music

You can now get the latest updates from your favorite musical artist, such as concerts that are happening nearby or the latest releases of albums. Also in the music section are other music that your friends are listening to

This gives music artists a great avenue to release their latest updates on Facebook, rather than do so with other less-populated social networks.

4. Photos and Pages

Photos also get their own ‘section’, so you can look into the lives of your friends through their eyes, with help from their phone cameras and perhaps Instagram filters. If you follow Pages, these are all put together in the same ‘Following’ feed so that when you sit down and read, you are getting all of them on the same channel and in chronological order.

5. Preferential sorting for feeds

If you tap into the Music feed often, this will automatically be ranked higher in your choice of feed based on your recent and frequency of interactions. Since you can create any other types of feed, this gives you better, more personalized management of the information you can find on Facebook.

Mobile Consistency

1. Global Navigation

In an attempt to make Facebook look and feel the same across all platforms and screen sizes, the new design has a tray feature accessible on the left of your Facebook view. This is the same on the tablet, your smartphone and the desktop.

This reduces the need to relearn how to navigate Facebook whenever you access it from different devices.

2. New updates, new look

New notification about new incoming stories have also gotten a facelift in the form of a clean, bubble near the top of your feed. It lets us access new stories without scrolling off the page so you don’t lose sight of what you are reading.

3. Responsive design

The new design is essentially mobile-inspired, and the physical model of how you got around in Facebook on smartphones and the tablet has now been ported to the desktop view. You can now access a page on Facebook from another page without having to go back to the homepage.

Conclusion

Can’t wait to try the new look on? Join the waiting list and experience the new Facebook yourself.

What Your Favorite Social Network Sites Say About You

Posted: 07 Mar 2013 01:40 AM PST

Social networking sites (SNS) have permeated our lives so much so that to not have an account is to cut off information flow from oneself. Social network sites are where you get news even quicker than official news sites, and hear about the latest gossip or rumors surrounding your peers.


(Image source: Fotolia)

At the same time, social networking is where you can socialize and network with your friends in this increasingly connected world of ours. It’s no wonder everyone is on one or more of these networking sites. What you chose as your favorite SNS says a lot about your own preferences and needs, and even reveals your personality. It says who we are in ways we wouldn’t have thought of.

Check out the following top SNS and what they say about their loyal fans.

Facebook

If you’re on it, you’re well-connected to the rest of your peers. You probably wanted to belong to where everyone is, where the action is, and you side with the majority. You use your social networks to socialize and make friends, be informed with the latest gossip or news, a small group of you may even stalk friends. And you’d be normal.

facebook art
(Image source: ezatkamel)

There are reports that go to say that people who are not on Facebook are abnormal, even psychopathic. But my guess is that these people are non-conformists for various valid reasons. Facebook is the best tool you can use for socializing and distributing information. When compared to other popular SNS online, some of them seem to not have that socialization element.

If Facebook is your favorite SNS, it may then suggest that you’re someone who is craving for online social ties and thus may use it as a way to combat loneliness or substitute for a lack of an active social life. Either that or you’re just going with the flow.

Twitter

So where do online users go to if they only want to be informed of the latest news but don’t wish to socialize that much? Twitter is the choice. Long-time Twitter users are found to use the site for cognitive stimulation by uncovering information without much socialization. I

It was also found that people who preferred Twitter scored higher in 'need for cognition’ over Facebook users. The latter tend to score higher in sociability, neuroticism and extraversion.


(Image source: RianGonzales)

The results seem to suggest that if you favor Twitter, you’re intellectual but care less about fulfilling your social needs online.

After all, Twitter is pretty much all about short, to-the-point updates and the sharing of information, not unlike the status updates of Facebook, but it doesn’t offer Facebook’s multi-content approach involving games, photo storage and place check-ins. People who love using Twitter are those who like having a minimalist online persona and a text-like approach to their social networks.

MySpace

MySpace used to be the top social network site before Facebook came, saw and conquered. Today, MySpace users are an endangered species in the world of SNS (forget about Friendsters, they’re already extinct). Today, if your loyalty to MySpace is still unwavering, it means you are probably trying to advertise your indie band to the remaining users out there.

After all, MySpace was an awesome platform for small-time musicians to showcase their work by uploading their entire discographies onto their profiles and even sell them on the platform.

If you don’t have a band, then you must be some sort of music buff looking for great indie music.

MySpace is the social network site that allows you to discover new music via its suggestion features. Sure, the popularity is dwindling, which means there will be lesser music available. Yet, this is a plus for musicians who distribute their music through MySpace. With lesser competition, their music has a higher chance of getting noticed and heard. Great for music lovers.

LinkedIn

Designed for people in professional occupations, LinkedIn is primarily used for professional networking. People may sign up for LinkedIn for career-related purposes. But if LinkedIn is your favorite social network site, chances are that you’re the no-nonsense type who only uses SNS for professional networking and nothing more.


(Social truck icons – Hongkiat)

Moreover, you are more likely to be male. A study revealed that 63% of LinkedIn users are male, 47% are females, and that LinkedIn is the only social network site with more male users than female users. The differences in the ratio in LinkedIn could be that males are more career-oriented than social-oriented.

Having LinkedIn as your favorite SNS definitely also says something about your lack of reliance on social networks to fulfill your social needs, which might actually be a good thing.

Google+

Google+ is the latest popular networking site on the market. Part of those who favor Google+ are disgruntled Facebook users who grew tired of its flaws, especially its ever-changing privacy policy. No matter how much you restrict access to those whom you can trust, there’s always a way that things can get leaked out.

That is what’s driving Facebook users away, but what’s drawing people to Google+? Again, it might also have something to do with privacy as well. Google+ Circles affords selective sharing with different groups of friends that is very unlike Facebook’s interface.

Also, with Google+ just new into the game and thus less saturated with users, advertisers are not as into it as they are into Facebook. Data mining is less likely on Google+. If this is your favorite SNS, then it just goes to say that online privacy matters a lot to you.

20 Mobile Apps For Shopping Discounts And Deals

Posted: 07 Mar 2013 05:24 AM PST

Shopping is easier now more than ever and we’re not just talking about being able to shop from the comforts of home. You can now check for the latest prices in multiple catalogs, availability of products, comparison of prices, special promotions, discounts, reviews and lowest prices on your smartphone.

Save time, trips and money by going through your grocery list quick and easy. Some of these apps even reward you for being an avid shopper and lets you join forces with other savvy shoppers to find the best prices for anything you can find under the sun.

LivingSocial

If you like to shop with your smartphone, this app is for you. Similar to what Groupon does, LivingSocial also provides deals between 50% – 90% off in your city, every day. Users can just view deals and buy directly via their smartphones. The good thing is when you refer 3 friends to get the same deal like you do, you’ll get yours for free.

Platform: iOS | Android

LivingSocial

Google Shopper

Google Shopper provides information like prices, reviews, videos and more of millions of products right on your smartphone, recognizing them via barcode, voice, text search or even cover art. You can easily make the best purchasing decision by comparing prices in different online stores.

Platform: iOS | Android

Google Shopper

Amazon Price Check

Users can use its built-in scanners to scan barcodes, upload a picture of a product, speech or text search to get the product descriptions, find customer reviews and the lowest prices available from Amazon.com and its merchants.

Platform: iOS | Android

Amazon Price Check

ShopSavvy

A very powerful barcode scanner and QR code reader to search for the right product at the best prices, either on online stores or local stores. It also provides a map to locate the nearest stores for best pricing. If you find a good deal, buy it instantly from the merchant ecommerce site or save it to buy online later.

Platform: iOS | Android | Windows

ShopSavvy

Groupon

Groupon app is a popular mobile commerce app which brings you fresh local deals with real-time discounts every day, and it’s customizable to fit what you’re looking for. You can purchase and redeem deals straight from your smartphones and easily track your coupons by expiration date and location.

Platform: iOS | Android | Blackberry | Windows

Groupon

PriceGrabber

Another app that allows you to find product information, compare prices and get merchant ratings. Searched results can be sorted by price, rating or popularity.

Platform: iOS | Android

PriceGrabber

The Coupons App

Put a real-time coupon widget with The Coupons App to save money at local stores, restaurants and even gas stations. Not only that, you can share a coupon with friends and family via email or Facebook.

Platform: iOS | Android

The Coupons App

Decide

Decide is a price predictor app that helps you to make a decision on what to buy, when to buy and get the price guaranteed on your purchased products. It collects reviews from product buyers to determine if a deal is worthy. Users can also set a price alert to track products or know when new versions/models are released.

Platform: iOS

Decide

Smoopa

Join other shoppers to figure out what the really good prices are. This is a comparison app which lets you join foces with other shoppers to scout for the best prices for your favorite products.

Platform: iOS | Android

Smoopa

Shopkick

Shopkick is actually an app which lets you redeem products. Get your kicks from browsing catalogs then spend them (yes, the kicks) on special rewards you can redeem from time to time.

Platform: iOS | Android

BuyVia

Get the lowest price on any products from both online and local stores with BuyVia. It comes with a UPC Code and QR code scanner for you to find the best prices. Users can customize a shopping alert to receive notification when the price of a product falls.

Platform: iOS

BuyVia

Milo

Milo has a big database for you to check the pricing and availability for over 3 million products in local stores. Users can also pay for an item from the palm of your hand and pick it up at a local store.

Platform: iOS | Android

Milo

Best Buy

Get the full catalog of products you can get from Best Buy. Users can compare prices, specs and decide which is the best deal. Users can also gain instant Reward Zone membership access to redeem gift vouchers after certain amount of purchases.

Platform: iOS | Android

Best Buy

eBay

Like to shop with eBay? Install this app to access the world’s largest marketplace right on your smartphone. Like what the Web version does, users can buy and sell items, compare prices, set up notifications and bid alerts to stay in touch with a deal.

Platform: iOS | Android | Windows

eBay

WalMart

Want to find the lowest prices of Walmart products at home without going out? Install this app. It also comes with a built-in scanner to check the current price of a product at the store.

Platform: iOS | Android

walmart

Staples

If you always purchase Staples products, this app is for you. This app contains over 100,000 Staples products and you can grab any deal, redeem coupons and check the current balance.

Platform: iOS | Android

Staples

Shop Advisor

Shop Advisor lets you add products you want to your personal WatchList and it will send you a notification whenever the ‘price is right’.

Platform: iOS | Android | Windows

RedLaser

RedLaser is a shopping assistant with barcode and QR code scanners to get the best price of a product and the nearest local stores it is available in. Besides that, users can search for deals and coupons from many merchants and buy the product online via RedLaser.

Platform: iOS | Android | Windows

RedLaser

Kohl’s

Kohl’s helps you to save money when shopping by providing you the accurate information, reviews and ratings of a product you want to buy.

Platform: iOS | Android

Kohl's

Target

With Target, you can create a product TargetLists to stay alert with its pricing. You can also design your shopping list, get special offers, check prices and buy a product using GiftCards and redeem coupons right from your smartphone.

Platform: iOS | Android

Target

Multiplayer Gaming on Smartphone With Chrome Super Sync

Posted: 07 Mar 2013 01:13 AM PST

So PS4 has been announced, with the possibility of cloud gaming, but we’re here to talk about a streamed down yet interesting new way we can now game on our smartphones, together. Chrome Super Sync is a Chrome experiment that allows several players to come together and game on the same field using their smartphones as handheld consoles.

For now, the games are limited to three types of sports: swimming, running and cycling races. Everyone shares a common view on a single desktop browser and use their own smartphones to gesture and move their avatars to the finishing line.

Syncing The Race

To try this out, go to Chrome Super Sync Sports on your desktop computer or laptop to set up the race and sync in the contestants. Choose from the event you want to race in: running, cycling or swimming.

Pick single mode or multiplayer mode and you will get to this screen with a code. You will need this code to sync your smartphone to the desktop browser.

On your mobile browser, enter the code, then click Sync.

Choose your avatar and start gesturing on your phone to get your avatar to the end of the race.

Racing In Multiplayer Mode

You can race with friends by getting them to g.co/super and keying in the code. You’ll notice at the bottom part of your desktop browser how many of your friends have joined the race.

When all of the smartphones are in sync with the game, the first player to log in with the code will have the option to start the game from their smartphone. Press on ‘All players are ready’ and it will bring you to the page to select your avatar.

After choosing your avatars, you and your friends can start racing against each other by gesturing on your respective phones.

Running

Cycling

Swimming

Game limitations

You can get any of your friends anywhere to connect to the game via the code, but they do not have a view of the field. So, basically, you and your friends need to be in the same room to view the events unravelling during the race. This also works on the tablet, in that you can not only use your tablet as a handheld console but also to display the field like your desktop browser can, by requesting desktop view (on Chrome).

It might not look like much now but this puts a foot through the door for more multiplayer smartphone gaming options in the future.

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