Facebook makes new changes overnight

When you logged on to Facebook this morning, did something look odd to you? It turns out the people at Facebook made even more changes to the site overnight for some inexplicable reason. The changes come the same week that Google+ became available to the general public, which could be one reason...or it might just be that Mark Zuckerburg really likes to play around with us.

Let’s start from the top. The first big change is that the Facebook logo and search bar are now locked at the top of the page. It used to be that if you scrolled down, it would disappear. That’s no longer the case. The logo will follow you no matter where you go.

Also locked is a sort of mini-feed that lists your friend's activities, like when they share links, comment on a friends’ status (even if that friend is not one of your friends), when they make changes to their profile, etc. These little items used to appear in your standard news feed, but they now only appear here.

Next, the main news feed has been completely re-done. You’ll see “Top Stories From The Last Hour.” These are stories that Facebook thinks you think are more important than the stories that show up in the “Recent Stories” list, which you have to scroll down to see. I’m not sure how exactly Facebook decides what they think you find interesting, though. Personally, I only ‘like’ things that I’m interested in, so to me, everything is a top story.

The News Feed also no longer automatically updates when you visit each time. Now, if, between visits, there are 10 new stories, those 10 will not automatically appear. You have to click “10 Recent Stories.”

Another recent addition are the lists, which actually seem like a revival of the old friends lists, which were gone when Facebook upgraded a few years ago. One of the lists is a “Close Friends” list, which Facebook suggests you put in your friends that you communicate with the most. The fact that Facebook knows who you talk to and how often you do is kind of scary.

Mark Tonkelowitz tried to explain the changes on the Facebook blog, writing that when you go to Facebook, you should see what you are “...most interested in.” In all honesty, though, these changes seem like another example of Facebook fixing what was never broken.