It’s an innovation battle out there. With Twitter and Google+ as its main competitors, Facebook has to constantly roll out new features to stay relevant so it doesn’t end up like MySpace. Facebook announced via its blog yesterday that it’s rolling out a new version of the News Feed. Before now, News Feed was split into two streams: Top News and Most Recent. Now all that is being pulled together into one. Facebook also announced a ‘Ticker’ so you can see what your friends are up to in real time and join in the conversation.

News Feed Redesign

The new News Feed shows you Top Stories automatically when you login. Facebook says they want the News Feed to be as relevant as the front page of a newspaper: It shows you the most interesting stories. If you haven’t logged in to Facebook in a while, Top Stories are marked with a blue corner at the top-left of the update. If you’re a regular user however, you’ll see the most recent updates first. The updates now come with bigger photos.

Ticker

The ticker is a feature Facebook tested earlier this year. At the top of your chat sidebar (The bar that shows all your online friends), is a new box known as the ticker. It’s where you’ll see more real-time updates that don’t show up in the News Feed. You’ll also be able to comment on these updates without leaving your current page.

In the past week, Facebook has added features such as the Smart Friends List and Subscribe button to make it easier for users to see updates from certain networks or locations their friends belong to and to subscribe to updates from celebrities or public figures that aren’t your friend.

This video explains Ticker, Top Stories and the Smart Friends List.

We’re expecting Facebook to announce more features like music and video streaming at its f8 developer conference on Thursday.

For Facebook users, you’ve probably complained about every Facebook change since 2004. You’ll get used to this one in no time . Remember that Facebook has to compete with every social based service out there. Meanwhile, leave us a comment. Tell us what you think.

Binjo

A freshman studying Software Engineering at Carleton Unviersity, Binjo is passionate about(some say he's obsessed with) technology and the web. . In his spare time, Binjo runs UP NEPA! Where he blogs on a wide range of issues. Follow him on twitter @UPNEPA

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