It is never any secret when the Facebook team changes the Web site’s features. In addition to the visible differences to home pages, profiles or friend feeds, modifications are typically met with angry status updates from users declaring, “John Doe HATES THE NEW FACEBOOK!!!!”This was the case last September, when Facebook transformed the main section of its home page into a status feed, and other items, such as photo uploads and event announcements, were pushed to the right side of the site.But despite initial hatred for Facebook’s ever-changing interface, users either adapt or resist, but remain present on the site.”I get really mad and upset when I log in and see changes to the site because it’s something I use so often, and I get used to the way it works,” Noel Cline, a freshman in paper science and chemical engineering, said.Cline, who has had a Facebook account for four years, said she is usually flexible when it comes to layout changes to the site. She logs in approximately seven times per day and uses the site for communication with friends. However, she said she is not a fan of its most recent redesign.”It’s just like Twitter, and I already have Twitter,” she said.According to Jennifer Riehle, technology outreach specialist for the Office of Information Technology, that’s exactly what Facebook was going for with its latest modifications.There are notable similarities between the status feed section of its homepage and that of Twitter.com, a popular networking site on which users post 140-character updates.”It seems they really wanted to try to take advantage of the whole Twitter phenomenon,” she said. “For people who were posting to Twitter and [having it] automatically update their Facebook status, it would be a little more fluid.”However, despite Facebook’s new likeness to Twitter, Riehle said their differences are important to note and make the two sites impossible to interchange.”Facebook has a very distinct purpose, and that is to find people. I don’t think Twitter could ever replace Facebook,” she said. “With Facebook, you typically use your real name. You are seeking people based on past experiences. Twitter is more anonymous.”Riehle also said Facebook’s privacy regulations are “more stringent” than Twitter’s, noting that users have the capability to restrict access to his or her profile on many levels. However, on Twitter, a person’s posts are either public or private with no options in between.Taylor Resparc, a freshman in chemical engineering, is not a Twitter user, and said he was disappointed to see Facebook’s Twitter-like features.”The home page is terrible,” he said. “I don’t really care about every single person’s status.”He described the “highlights” section on the right side of the page, where photos uploads, events, and relationship statuses are posted, as “pointless.””I liked the way it was after the update before this most recent one,” he said.But Jessie Black, a junior in business administration, said the process of adjusting to a new layout will be the same now as it has been in the past.”It’s just like when they changed it the last time – you just get used to it,” she said. “It doesn’t bother me or anything.”And Facebook users should be used to it by now. The site has changed its layout twice since its inception in 2004.Riehle said there is not a typical time frame for companies to change the looks of their Web sites, but in general, most will examine the content annually and update pages if necessary. As far as appearances go, some may wait three to four years to overhaul the design of their site. Others have, for the most part, maintained their layout since their inceptions. Amazon.com is one such example.If a redesign is done well, Riehle said the transition is smooth for users. For a “power user,” or someone who uses a site daily, frustration may result from the relocation of links, etc.”Hopefully if it’s re-done, it’s done intuitively enough that even if you are a power user, you can [navigate the site],” she said.Both Cline and Resparc, who could be considered power users, said they would appreciate Facebook reverting to its previous design. For now, however, it seems users will be left to adapt to its new features – until it changes again.