The Display Change on Facebook

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Facebook is expected to make a lot of big announcements this week at f8. More on those here. The company is hardly waiting, however, to go ahead and get other changes to the user experience out there ahead of time.

Expect big changes at Facebook this week - and if you log in to the site now, you'll be looking at some of them already, including a new 'news ticker' that has ignited strong reactions from users.

They already added the subscribe button, new friends list options and new sharing controls. Now they’ve announced changes to how the news feed works and the ticker feature that they’ve been testing for a while


The new update to the site 'splits' news into 'top stories' - the company declined to explain how these are chosen for each individual - and a 'news ticker' that crawls up the right side of the screen, adding updates as they come in.

The news feed will now surface content based on your Facebook visiting habits. Facebook’s Mark Tonkelowitz explains:

When you pick up a newspaper after not reading it for a week, the front page quickly clues you into the most interesting stories. In the past, News Feed hasn’t worked like that. Updates slide down in chronological order so it’s tough to zero in on what matters most.

Now, News Feed will act more like your own personal newspaper. You won’t have to worry about missing important stuff. All your news will be in a single stream with the most interesting stories featured at the top. If you haven’t visited Facebook for a while, the first things you’ll see are top photos and statuses posted while you’ve been away. They’re marked with an easy-to-spot blue corner.

'Starting today, it will be easier to keep up with the people in your life no matter how frequently or infrequently you're on Facebook,' wrote Facebook engineer Mark Tonkelowitz on the company's blog.

'When you pick up a newspaper after not reading it for a week, the front page quickly clues you into the most interesting stories. In the past, News Feed hasn't worked like that. Updates slide down in chronological order so it's tough to zero in on what matters most. Now, News Feed will act more like your own personal newspaper. You won't have to worry about missing important stuff.'

The ticker simply displays updates from your friends as they post in realtime. This should keep you from missing things.