Bigger is better for news. That’s the message from Facebook today as word comes that the social networking giant is revamping the News Feed for mobile devices.
The redesign now delivers larger photos and makes it easier to see and view posts.
News Feed photos are now up to three times larger, Facebook says, while posts now fill the full range of the mobile screen.
The new design will be available on iOS, Android and m.facebook.com.
So what’s behind the move? In addition to improving the quality of the Facebook mobile experience for users, mobile advertising concerns are also underscoring the Facebook facelift.
“Sponsored Stories enable businesses to increase the reach and distribution of stories about their brand,” says Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg. “Today only a small fraction of our impressions are Sponsored Stories, which gives us lots of room to grow.”
“We believe this increased usage of Facebook on mobile devices has contributed to the recent trend of our daily active users (DAUs) increasing more rapidly than the increase in the number of ads delivered,” Facebook executives said in their revised S-1 filing last week. “If users increasingly access Facebook mobile products as a substitute for access through personal computers, and if we are unable to successfully implement monetization strategies for our mobile users, or if we incur excessive expenses in this effort, our financial performance and ability to grow revenue would be negatively affected.”