Facebook revamps Notes, now looks ready to take on Medium, Tumblr, Blogger

Facebook Notes is about to get a massive makeover, with the feature set to take on features more usually associated with dedicated blogging platforms.

Notes has been around since 2006 but only ever received on major update, in 2010.

The new Facebook Notes looks more like a blogging platform, shedding the ads and user name on the side that the current Facebook Notes has. The new Notes looks a lot like Medium. It has a clean layout, wider posts and large cover image.

Read more: Facebook is now a publisher, launches Instant Articles

Notes will also allow users to blog long ‘notes’. Up until now, users have limited to 60 000 characters.

There is no doubt that Facebook sees itself as a publisher and it has made this clear before. Though the social platform has been at the forefront of sharing content, it has also put itself forward as not only a distributor but as a publisher.

Facebook becoming a publisher is not news. The signs have been there for some time now. In 2013, Facebook acquired Storylane, a startup that specialised in blogging. Earlier this year Facebook hired the partners of Teehan+Lax, a company that was an early design partner for Medium, the very blog that the new Facebook Notes looks like.

Notes is being tested by a limited number of users.

Facebook spokesperson confirmed to NextWeb that Facebook is indeed testing Facebook Notes “We’re testing an update to Notes to make it easier for people to create and read longer-form stories on Facebook.”

There is no news of when the update is coming to all users.

Facebook has made a habit of making its features into standalone apps, should Notes gain traction as a blogging app, it would not hurt to make it a standalone app and give it the features it needs to be fully fledged blog platform that can stand independent of Facebook.