Debate 1: Facebook’s Layout

Government: Josh, Adam and Durval

Opposition: Chris, Becks and Em

Josh:

Usability problems,

Facebook ctivw[?] up by 80%

100% owned by the user

Massive changes – grew in activity

Quick access – no need to go to albums with the new feature, Timeline

Smart groups – separated groups

Media hub – integration of spotify

User friendly, media centered

Chris:

Since 2006, biggest social network

Easy to connect

It is awful: new sidebar, status bar is random

Chances without informing the user

Not as many users as Twitter

Google+ is fantastic but not as much users as Facebook

Users never use album search feature to look at old pictures

Adam:
Changes to Facebook, we as users were informed it will be released today. It will be released part by part, first in America and other nations will follow as it is impossible to implement all in one go

Facebook customization – users care about it, they look back, it is up for personal preference

Timeline – it is good to go back

Adds? – Facebook is a free service (income)

Facebook is getting better with the changes

Becky:

Specify security at start

Since updates, changed. Why?

Spend some money, on security.

Google+, works better. In like, a few months.

Twitter hasn’t changed because it works.

New notifications, from people who aren’t direct friends.

Myspace now music.

Personally I think Google+ is better

Durval: Conclusion

Summary of points:

Ticker, smart list, subscribe and timeline improve interactions.

Top stories tailor your feed based on interests.

Personal profile has been improved with timeline.

Google+ hasn’t got a fraction of Facebooks population.

The cost of free service is tailored advertisements.

Em: Conclusion

Use facebook for friends not layout

Millions of people complaining about facebook

Constant changes in comparison to other social networking websites

Security isn’t straight forward, too many settings

My Personal Notes for the Conclusion’s Preparation

Facebook’s Layout changes are necessary

Reference to the 5 main changes:

1.News Ticker – real time

2.Smart List – help keep up with groups

3.Top Stories – topics the user might be interested in based on past interaction

4.Subscribe Button – for user whom wishes for a more public profile (previous layout required such users to create pages if they wished to have a more public profile)

5.Timeline – known as personal profile on previous layout, now allows the users upload pictures taken even before they had a Facebook account. Allows users to go back.

A cote provided by Josh.

Aftermath Reflection

The opposition use their time to research Facebook new layout neither picked up on the 5 main feature pointed out by the government, preferring to use their time to discuss about security and privacy on Facebook, and compare it to other social network such as Twitter and Google+ instead. Which was a shame since this was a debate about Facebook Layout and not about its security issues neither a comparison between the late and other social networks.

The second speaker of the opposition didn’t bring nothing new to the discussion other than the openly stating at the start of the speech “Personally I think Google+ is better”, when a personal opinion is just that, a personal opinion and not relevant to the debate.
The opposition conclusion was as good as a dull blame failing to slash the government conclusion which was as solid as a rock.

Thanks for the opposition for the experience and my apologies for the “fangs” sunk into the opposition flesh as we the members of the government defended our corner lively which of course resulted in the loss but not in content.