Like! Facebook’s Cluttered News Feed Gets A Much-Needed Makeover

We’d be lying if we said that Facebook’s current news feed didn’t give us a mini panic attack every time we logged on. Polluted with janky ads and a mesh of random content, the feed is hardly a visual treat. Well, Facebook totally gets that and is doing some spring cleaning, if you will, to gussy up the layout — so you can have a vibrant, more enriching user experience — sans the info overload.

At an event held at its Menlo Park HQ today, Mark Zuckerberg shared the shiny-new details the feed will feature. The cleaned-up version will focus on three major areas: a richer story design, cuts in news feeds, and consistency across all platforms. Let’s start with the design layout — Facebook is aiming to make photos front and center and intends to make them even bigger and prettier. This applies to the snaps in your feed and in your albums.

(Of course, the downside to this is that you will also see bigger, more beautiful ads, as well, which is one of the major motivators for FB to update its entire visual approach.)

Also, as part of the design functionality, articles you "like" or share will also have bigger pictures and more descriptive text, and check-ins will also include a large pic and map — versus just listing the location. The same drill goes for third-party apps, so when you share that Pinterest post it will be more dynamic and immersive. Since most of what we share on FB is visual, it only makes sense for Zuckerberg and Co. to let images and photos take center stage.

To ensure that you are only seeing content from the people you care about, you will now have the option of multiple feeds — a friends feed, photo feed, music feed, and a following feed. Think of these places like little hubs of curated content, which you can switch between in order to filter your information. Tired of seeing everyone's Spotify lists? Don't tune into your music feed. Wanna see what celebs are up to? You can check out the people you follow, but don't actually know in real life.

And last but not least is mobile consistency. You will be able to access the same Facebook content on mobile and web, which really integrates the web on-the-go experience. For users of the current Facebook app, the left-hand rail and navigation bar will feel familiar.

It all sounds pretty snazzy, right? Well, we'll try not to dangle the bait, because it will roll out slowly (like all of FB's changes). But, if you want to get yourself on the waiting list to try it out, head here! Hopefully, this will put a end to the sensory overload that Facebook has morphed into — and certainly aggravate image-heavy competitors like Google+. Finally, it seems like Facebook is paying attention to the lessons it has learned from Instagram. The minimalist in us digs this approach.