Since the social network service Facebook emerged in February 2004, it has drastically increased in popularity. A MSN article titled “Goldman to Clients: Facebook has 600 million users” writes that currently in January 2011, Facebook has 600 million and monthly active users. It is incredible to see the extreme growth that Facebook has encountered within the past year. In July 2010, Facebook announced that there were 500 million monthly active users so there are already 100 million more users now!
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| Credit: http://www.insidefacebook.com |
People using Facebook are able to create profiles that list their interests, contact information, as well as any other personal information they may like to add. Users further have the ability to add/communicate with friends, exchange messages both publicly and privately, and chat. However, throughout the past few years, Facebook has made numerous modifications to its website. For instance, one of Facebook’s major changes occurred on September 6, 2006, when a News Feed was added which appears on users’ homepage. This feature illustrates what is going on in your particular social circle on Facebook or essentially highlights what Facebook thinks that you will find most interesting. More specifically, it updates a personalized list of news stories throughout the day, so you have the ability to get the latest gossip posted about your friends and social groups.
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| Credit: http://www.techipedia.com/ |
With such a high number of people utilizing Facebook’s features, it is no surprise that the creators of this social network service generate a high volume of feedback from its users. It is great to see how the Facebook creators respond to feedback, whether it is criticism or praise on their Facebook blog.
One of the interesting changes that occurred recently has been the photos posted on a person’s Facebook page. Three of the most requested features have been:
1.) Drag and Drop Photos
2.) High Resolution Photos
3.) In-Line Photo Browsing
A brief article on Mashable explains the number one most requested feature of these three changes, which is the drag and drop photo option. This allows users to organize photos by manually dragging and dropping albums and photos into any order that they desire, regardless of the photo’s upload date. This is especially useful for novice users managing their albums. For high resolution photos, users now have the option to upload a high resolution version of their album. Although uploading these images takes more time, this feature gives the photos a clearer image. Lastly, for in-line photo browsing, users have the ability to view photos in their news feed without opening a new browser tab.
By responding to user’s requests, the Facebook team proves that they are frequently monitoring user feedback and encouraging comments. Facebook continues to relentlessly push forward by adding and altering features that make the new design more functional for the users. It is no surprise as to why Facebook continues to rapidly grow, since they value user feedback and the changes that occur are made to provide the best overall experience for the users themselves.
