Most people don’t like change. Why might you ask? People don’t like feeling uncomfortable when they are not in their element anymore. So, when a social phenomenon, like Facebook, makes multiple changes to their website layout, people are bound to lash out against the “new” site.
On September 21st, millions of Facebook users woke up to see that their beloved website had some drastic changes- that would definitely take some getting used to. With a miniature news feed, called “The Ticker”, updating constantly with friends posting in the top right corner, and a mixture of most recent and top news on the home page (rather than having the option of viewing one at a time), Facebook users immediately flooded the site with statuses expressing their outrage, and annoyance. Most users are unhappy that they now have to deal with the layout, but in reality, nobody is annoyed to the point of deleting their Facebook- they’re still addicted. “Facebook is going to continue to change, and people are going to hate it, but will still use it” says Kiera Fitzpatrick, one of Facebooks many users. “Change is a part of life and Facebook has consumed this generation’s life.”
A question that will always exist among Facebook users is why Facebook constantly alters many aspects of their website, when everyone is already happy with the way it is. People are always easily distracted and intrigued by new ideas, especially websites. Changes on social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter are a sign of improvement and progress, but still humans are incapable of liking any changes that are made on these websites. It’s important to humans to be able to predict what will happen, and when there are updates in sites like Facebook, people are uncomfortable with the unfamiliarity and the lack of control they have over the changes.
So, when the most drastic change of all hits Facebook in a matter of weeks, the “Timeline”- a new layout of a users profile that puts all their pictures, posts, applications, etc. in order to create a story, or layout, of their life- people will take to their computers and express their anger, because that’s just life.