Facebook unveils new look

Facebook has unveiled plans for an overhaul of its home page and branded partner pages.

The company says it has signed several partnership deals to test revamped versions of its public branded pages including with President Obama’s White House team, The New York Times and rock band U2.

It is planned that in the future the partner pages will be designed to better match the profile page of an average user rather than be a static location.

Facebook says the changes will allow companies to become more active issuing messages as regularly as individual Facebook users do.

The social network also unveiled a new look for its home page including a focus on the real-time documentation that will see posts from friends appear immediately. Members will be able to use filtering tools on the new home page to decide whose updates they’d like to see.

The social network’s changes follow months of debate about how social networks must switch focus to monetisation over and above growth in order to survive this year. A recent Deloitte report said while social networks have previously been valued on their member numbers, the harsh economic climate means they need to start justifying their worth to investors.