Facebook news feed redesign

In a press conference earlier today, Facebook announced an overhaul to the news feed feature. Changes will be rolled out to users in waves, starting today.

The new experience will be more personalized, showing posts based on what you've "liked" in the past. The feed will also feature a filter to sort through posts by topic, events, games, etc. Users will also be able to switch between posts from pages they follow and friends. The feed will also feature a sort by friend lists.

The ability to sort by topic and lists is similar to sort features that twitter has long offered. In today's press conference, Mark Zuckerberg said the goal is to create a personalized newspaper, allowing users to curate posts based on interests and importance.

The news feed will also feature larger photos in posts - and advertisements.

It's clear that one of the company's main concerns is the amount of time users spend on the site, and interact with advertisers. The hope is that by offering a more personalized experience, users will be encouraged to stay logged in longer, and more interactive.

“The best personalized newspaper should have a broad diversity of content,” Mr. Zuckerberg said. “The most important stuff is going to be on the front page,” he went on. “Then people have a chance to dig in.”

How does Facebook expect users will react to these changes? Mixed, as is usually the case. While many users resist any change, some will embrace these updates, particularly twitter users who are used to more customization in their news.