Updated 4:09 pm ET, Thursday, September 22
Yeah, yeah, nobody likes the new Facebook redesign that was rolled out for all users on Wednesday, as has been the case everytime the world’s most popular social network has radically overhauled the website in the past five years (seven major updates, according to PC World).
That update, in case you missed it or aren’t on the website, essentially reworked the landing page for every Facebook user, moving the “Top News,” tab into its own section, “Top Stories,” at the top of the page, putting “Recent Stories,” underneath. Facebook also moved the “News Feed,” showing all user activity in chronological order, into a separate, tinier column all the way to the right with its own separate scroll bar.
And as has been the case before, users might continue to gripe for several weeks before finally just acquiescing.
But there’s reason to believe that this time will be different, primarily because the redesign is just the tip of the iceberg of flashy new multimedia features that Facebook is set to unleash on users on Thursday at the annual F8 Developer’s Conference in San Francisco at 10:00 a.m. PT. (1 ET), Facebook’s equivalent to the Apple Stream it live here on Facebook or watch below:
The tagline of the conference, “Read. Watch. Listen,” which leaked on Monday, more or less confirms reports that Facebook will unveil its own music service to compete with iTunes. Facebook is set to introduce big name partners in this effort including Clear Channel, Spotify, Rhapsody, Rdio, MOG and Turntable.fm. A full list of speakers indicates that Spotify’s and Turnatable.fm’s chief executives will share the stage with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
As for the “read” component, Facebook is likely to be announcing a new, built-in news article reading and sharing feature based on partnerships with several news media outlets, including CNN, The Washington Post and News Corp.’s iPad publication The Daily.
Full disclosure: I was a reporter with The Daily from November 2010 to August 2011.
We will update as the conference continues. Stay tuned.
First update: Timeline
Zuckerberg unveils a new Facebook section called “Timeline” that will collect enable three things: “All your stories, all your apps and a new way to express who you are.”
It’s a new, separate profile page that shows your old updates and Facebook actions from all the years since you’ve joined Facebook. It’s more horizontal and compartmentalized than the current profile and allows users to update a giant photo backdrop at the top of the page, to “express” themselves. “It’s your whole life,” Zuck adds.
Interestingly, you can also edit the timeline to put in old family photos or “important events,” making it a very malleable record.
Facebook says in a blog post that it wont be actually available for a “a few weeks.”
Second update: Ticker, Beyond “Like,” and Music Listening
Zuckerberg says that Facebook will now allow users to go beyond just “Like”-ing things with the “Like” button. Now Facebook will support buttons for any verb. “Read” a book and “Listen” to music.
He also shows-off the new “Ticker,” which has replaced the News Feed in the upper right hand corner. There, you can see what friends are doing who have used the new verb buttons on other sites, so if five friends are watching an episode of a TV show on Hulu, you will see and be able to join them via a link in the Ticker.
Spotify CEO Daniel Elk takes to the the stage saying “in the old days, you used to go people’s houses to discover new records.” He shows off Spotify’s new Facebook app, which allows Facebook users to listen to Spotify songs within Facebook and share them with friends. You can play what friends are listening to or recommend songs within the app.
Read more about the new Spotify/Facebook integration on Spotfy’s blog. And watch a video here.
Third update: Video (Netflix) Integration
Embattled Netflix CEO (and Facebook board member) Reed Hastings takes to the stage, admitting he “never got around to watching Breaking Bad,” but that when he tested a new Netflix Facebook app and saw a friend recommend it, he clicked through and began watching it.
Hastings also takes a stab at the U.S. government, saying that Netflix Facebook integration is available in “44 out of 45” countries, including Canada and Mexico, but that in the U.S., Netflix is currently prevented from integrating with Facebook due to a section of the U.S. Code that prevents video rental companies from obtaining and sharing customer information.
Hastings notes that Congress is currently reviewing legislation to change the code to remove this restriction, introduced by Rep. Robert Goodlatte (R-VA). He says Netflix, along with Hulu a bevvy of other video partners, will hopefully soon be available domestically.
Read Netflix’s blog posts on the matter here and here.
Fourth update: Open Graph Apps
Zuckerberg returns to the stage to briefly show-off new built-in news apps from The Washington Post and The Daily.
Interestingly though both called “Social Readers,” their apps are quite distinct, with The Daily’s presenting the iPad publication’s stories in two vertical columns, those from “Today,” that is, stories that ran in the iatest ssue, and the “News Stream,” fresh updates from The Daily staff on Facebook itself. The Washington Post’s Social Reader looks more like a traditional broadsheet website, with several screaming headlines at the top followed by syndicated features and other, less prominent features below.
Read about The Daily’s Social Reader from the company here and about The Washington Post’s Social Reader from the company here.
TPM is listed also listed, along with many other companies, as one of the new Facebook news partners. More on this later.
In addition, Zuckerberg explains that you’ll be able to see and track Games like Words With Friends from within Facebook, and customize which updates of your moves get sent out and to whom.
The final portion of these so-called “Open Graph Apps,” include “Lifestyle” apps from companies including Nike and Foodspotting, a mobile app for users that allows people to recommend specific dishes. Now Facebook will allow you to post updates of what you’ve eaten and cooked.
Fifth Update: Clear Channel’s “I Heart Radio” App, “Memories” mistake and The “Other” Facebook Execs…
Facebook Chief Technology Officer Bret Taylor takes to the stage to introduce Clear Channel’s “I Heart Radio” App, a music playing mobile and desktop application, which now has the capability to automatically update a user’s Facebook profile with every song they select.
Taylor explains that the new class of Open Graph apps will all feature this functionality in the sense that whatever actions you do on the apps can automatically be posted to Facebook.
He’s followed by Facebook Vice President of Product, Christopher Cox, who details the amusing story of a Facebook developer who was hired because of the amazing infographics he created of his profile data, and how this eventually lead to Facebook accidentally releasing a very early iteration of what Timeline called “Memories” for all users for one hour on one day in June.
He said the company received tons of positive feedback during that stunt and points out that “you don’t know how much information is there [in the Timeline] until its gone.” He also shares his wedding photos with the crowd.
Finally Zuckerberg returns to the stage and relates his admiration for Intel and Moore’s Law, saying it applies to Facebook and the development of social media as well.
Check out a neat bulleted full list of f8 announcements here from blog C4.
