“The Best Personalized Newspaper in the World”
by Andy Mai
Mark Zuckerberg aimed to please investors and users of Facebook on Thursday when he unveiled a redesigned “news feed,” the backbone of his social network.
The new news feed will feature bigger photos, bigger links and a better categorization of topics. It presents a more visual experience that aims to attract people to stay on Facebook for longer. Users have been spending less time on the social network and have opted for alternatives such as Tumblr, which is highly dependent on visuals.
The reason why Myspace faded into obscurity was due to the lack to fresh content available. Facebook hopes to learn from the mistake of not keeping their users interested in checking their profiles.
Zuckerberg wants to make Facebook “the best personalized newspaper in the world” by featuring your likes, friends and vibrant visuals. In the age of social media, Facebook has become a source of news. Statuses will tell you the latest basketball scored or about Rep. Rand Paul’s recent filibuster.
But at the end of the day, the goal is to make Facebook more advertiser friendly. The categorization of the news feed allows even more specific targeting. Instead of drawing solely on the page you like, a rap music category on your news feed would feature an ad for the latest RZA album.
Last year’s Facebook initial public offering was met with skepticism that the company could capitalize on advertising on mobile devices. The majority of Facebook users log on through their phones and have not been bombarded with sidebar advertisements.
The mobile application will been consistent with the online version.
But as Facebook remains under its $38 IPO value, it will be viewed as the company with $100 billion potential that never capitalized.
