Old Facebook Completely Going Away Next Week: Turning Point for Facebook
It’s now been nearly five months since we originally broke the news on the details of the Facebook redesign – and even longer since it was announced. Since Facebook’s initial announcements, the official launch of the redesign has been pushed back several times. Now, dozens of tweaks, thousands of developer questions, and millions of user complaints later, Facebook has just announced that all users will be moved to the new site and the old Facebook Platform APIs will no longer be supported starting “next week.”
The official launch marks a milestone in a long saga that has been a challenging one for Facebook to navigate to say the least. Facebook’s intentions for the redesign – simplifying the user experience, reducing clutter, and increasing the emphasis on feeds – are all ultimately good for Facebook, developers, and users. However, the specific ways it’s gone about implementing those changes have brought significant anxiety for developers whose livelihood depends on a feature-rich Facebook Platform, and concern from users who don’t warm up quickly to changes to the profile pages they spend countless hours manicuring.
On October 1 (or thereabout) “Facebook 3.1” begins. The first Facebook was about profiles and friends. The second, News Feeds. The third, Platform applications. Now that Facebook has reorganized how the pieces fit together with the latest redesign, how will the ecosystem react? Will developers find sustainable success? Will users get more engaged or flock to more “cluttered” waters?
We’ll be tracking the changes in growth and engagement closely. It’s still early yet.
