Every now and then Facebook makes format changes.

If you access Facebook via computer, you may have noticed some changes. If you’re one of the many who use it almost exclusively on their mobile devices, things probably haven’t changed. At least not that much.

The computer-access format changes can be frustrating when you first see them.

The first thing I noticed is that the left side of the Home page just looks different. Three parts are the same:  your name and the little photo of you, plus your Newsfeed.

But everything else is different.

After I got used to those changes, I noticed that the Facebook changed the Messages section. It has a different name and different format. It’s now called Messenger.

 

The Left Side of Your Home Page

• Messenger is what Facebook calls the message section on mobile devices. So this change makes sense in terms of continuity. Details on changes to this section are in the segment below this one.
• Shortcuts has replaced Favorites. Now all or most of your previous favorites should appear under Shortcuts. Per Facebook, “Shortcuts are quick links to some of your pages, groups and games.” If you had Friends lists added to favorites, these are no longer there. You will find them in the Explore section.
• To add or remove items from Shortcuts, hover your cursor to the right of the word Shortcuts. You will see the word Edit. Click on that to pin the the item to the top of all your Shortcuts. You can also hide this item. Or you can just let Facebook sort this item automatically.
• Explore automatically displays events, pages, groups, friend lists, page feed, and saved. To see other parts of the section, click on See More.

 

Messenger

• The Messenger icon now appears both on the left side of the Home page and in the Menu Bar.
• I recommend that you access Messenger from the left side of the page. Doing that takes you to a screen with three parts. On the left are messages you have written and received.
• Clicking on the cog wheel icon gives you several drop down options. These options include Settings, Active Contacts, Message Requests, and Active Threads.
  • If you click on Message Requests, you will see a link to Filtered Messages. These are messages that someone who is not a Facebook friend has sent. Check these periodically to see if there is something you want to respond to.
• In the middle of the page are the messages you have sent and received from the person displayed at the top of the left side.
• There is a cog wheel in the column on the right side of the page. Click on that to act on the displayed message. You can: Archive Delete, Mark as Unread, Mark as Spam, or Report the Message as Spam or Abuse.

 

How About You?

Have you gotten comfortable using the new Home Page layout? What about the new messages layout? What are your general thoughts on these changes?

 

About Joyce

Joyce Feustel helps people, especially those ages 45 and up, to become more comfortable using social media, especially Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and Twitter.

She works with business owners, business development professionals, leaders of nonprofit organizations, job seekers, retired people, consultants, and many others. Find her at www.boomerssocialmediatutor.com.