Facebook changes News Feed; music up next

Bad news for those with ears and friends with poor taste in music.

The only Facebook constant is change, and user criticism when those changes occur.

Wednesday morning, millions of social media users awoke to a new “News Feed,” and they didn’t like it.

The News Feed, which tells users what their friends are up to, now put the “most interesting” posts at the top.

Commenting on the Facebook Blog, user Brandi Genest Weeks said: “Quite frankly I don’t want Facebook deciding who is most important in my life. I want my news feed to just go chronologically and if I want to hide posts from someone, I will.”

Jennifer Egan Siler writes: “Give us the option to turn this stuff OFF, it’s terrible and makes me want to leave facebook altogether.”

Joi D Cristofori was more direct and even used all caps to make her point: “”SUCKS. IF IT ISN’T BROKE DON’T FIX IT. THIS IS THE MOST GOD AWFUL THING EVER. YOU JUST TURNED ME INTO A HATER AND THAT IN ITSELF IS A SIN, JERK.”

Still, more than 1,300 “liked” the changes before I hit publish on this prize-winning piece of modern journalism.

Facebook says the new News Feed acts like a newspaper, which I happen to know are hugely popular with the Facebook demographic.

“When you pick up a newspaper after not reading it for a week, the front page quickly clues you into the most interesting stories. In the past, News Feed hasn’t worked like that. Updates slide down in chronological order so it’s tough to zero in on what matters most,” explains Mark Tonkelowitz, an engineering manager at Facebook in a CBS article.

“Now, News Feed will act more like your own personal newspaper. You won’t have to worry about missing important stuff.”

A new feature, dubbed “Ticker” will soon be unveiled. It will track friends’ posts in “real time,” which sounds a lot like the old News Feed. (My account already seems to have it in the upper-right rail.)

Those who like the old News Feed can change their Facebook preferences to “English (UK),” say some.

Facebook fans should brace for more changes. Thursday, developers are expected to announce a host of upcoming tweaks, including a more musical experience.

Mashable reports Facebook will integrate musical services from Spotify and other content providers in the near future. Facebook will not directly host or stream any music or media. Instead, it will rely on partners to provide the content, much like it does with applications and games.

Facebook recently made it possible to demote annoying friends to “acquaintance” status, which seems to mimic Google+’s “Circles” feature.