Facebook Puts Mobile First…Finally!

By Ryan Majeau | Posted in my blog for

Facebook Clutter Free News FeedOops, Facebook did it again. Only this time it’s not really an oops, it’s a well thought out face lift that’s sure to make some noise. That’s right, your news feed is changing again! Don’t groan. This isn’t another Timeline scandal. Facebook finally gets it—mobile comes first! Say goodbye to clutter and hello to bright, beautiful stories.

I’m all about consistency, so having the same look across the board—web, phone, tablet—gets two thumbs up from me. With the revamped news feed, Facebook has finally caught up to speed. A seamless experience, big images (who wants to read these days?) and lots of options to see the info you want to see. You’re in control now.

Will everyone be happy? Of course not. No one likes change! Especially when it’s Facebook that’s doing the changing. What do you expect though, it’s free! While Timeline was admittedly a hard pill to swallow for many, I’m thinking this change might not be so bad.

More people have been viewing the site on their phones and tablets anyways. This change is more about making the website like the mobile version. About time! When Facebook first launched its mobile app, it was like it was a second thought—just to get something out there. Facebook made its money from ads on the website and couldn’t put ads on the apps without angering the masses. No profit, who cares.

The app sucked though. Anyone who’s used it for the past few years had nothing but “not so nice” things to say about it. It was slow, it kept crashing, you couldn’t do much with it, and always led to swearing. It’s no wonder the app had a 1-star rating in the App Store forever.

The last major update fixed up most of the problems, and since then other revisions have made more headway. With this release, you should get a seamless experience no matter where you choose to access the social network.

Why has it taken so long to put mobile first? That’s the million dollar question. Can you imagine having some pimped out delorean and going back in time to buy Apple stock right before that “silly iPod gadget” came out? If only there were signs! Well imagine going back 5 years now and implementing a mobile first strategy then? There were signs there too! Mobile has been hot forever. Now everyone’s kicking themselves and playing catch up.

Facebook finally did some good. Are you ready for it?