Students logging onto the Internet expecting to see recently updated photos, fresh wall-posts and updated applications will first be greeted by a change altogether- the new Facebook.

When founder Mark Zuckerberg released Facebook from his Harvard dorm room in February 2004, it was strictly a social networking Web site for college students. Today, it has grown into a multi-billion dollar Web site accessible to anyone.

The new format, initially announced on July 20, was created after Facebook gathered user feedback. The new design was optional for months, and the Web site gave users the ability to switch back and forth from the old to new layout. Starting this weekend, all Facebook members were welcomed by the new design after logging in.

Facebook’s latest format does not add or remove any functions that were present on the old webpage, but it is arranged differently.

“I don’t like it to be honest,” said Dan Szczesny, freshman in ACES. “It’s annoying. It’s hard to follow and there’s too much going on.”

One of the most prominent new aspects of the evolution is the arrangement of user profiles. Now, the profile is split into tabs allowing users to click each tab to retrieve desired information such as wall posts, photos and personal information. Users are now also allowed to add individual tabs for their favorite applications.

“Facebook’s new design makes it a lot easier for users to share information, and we encourage them to check it out,” said Zuckerberg in a press release.

A significant problem users complain about is the new arrangement of the Web site. It’s difficult to focus on a certain area, observes graduate student Nathan Couch.

“My eyes slide over the page easily,” said Couch. “There’s nothing to lock eyes with. I come away from my friend’s pages not knowing anything about their day.”

Others do not find Facebook’s new release to be all that difficult to handle. The social networking website does exactly what it needs to do, according to graduate student Matt Siebers.

“It’s enough to handle,” remarks Siebers. “It hasn’t caused me to lose sleep. It’s just as effective as the old Facebook. That’s the bottom line.”

Facebook users have used the Web site’s ability to create virtual groups to protest the new design. One group titled “1,000,000 AGAINST THE NEW FACEBOOK LAYOUT!” calls for the demolition of the new design. The group is more than 1.8 million members strong.

The change over to the new Facebook has not been entirely fluent, according to graduate student Anna Locke. She occasionally encounters error messages when surfing the Web site.

“I’m pretty resistant to change,” said Locke. “But it’s really not that bad.”

Facebook has steadily added features to its website since launch date in 2004 by constantly reviewing user feedback. Yet, according to Couch, the social networking Web site messed up this time.

“The old one was very clean,” stated Couch. “It was uncluttered, and that’s what I liked about Facebook.”