Facebook Events Gets Updated With a Calendar and List

In a move to counter Google+'s power-packed Events feature, Facebook has revamped its Events tab and has come out with Events Calendar and Events Lists.

While this move closely follows the launch of Google+ Events - which I must say is remarkable - Facebook in its release has said that it is the result of an year-long effort which started off from a Hackathon. This is a welcome change however because, in all honesty, the events page was dull and boring and it needed a facelift badly.

What All Has Changed in Facebook Events?

The Date

If you have ever noticed the Events tab on the sidebar carefully, its icon always showed the date as '31'. This has been changed to reflect today's date in the icon. I have no idea whatsoever why Facebook had '31' previously when putting today's date seemed more logical.

Events List

When you click on the Events tab, Facebook takes you to the Events List page where it lists all the recent events you have been invited to, events that your friends are going to or hosted by a page you 'like', and upcoming birthdays of your friends. In fact, you can wish your friend on his/her birthday right from here and it will be posted on their Timeline.

In the same interface, you can also delete an event invitation by clicking the 'x' besides it.

Events Calendar

The Calendar view lets you see all the RSVPs and birthdays in a grid and is much more visually pleasing than Lists. Just hover above any event and its details will pop out. While pending invitations are displayed on top of calendars, scrolling down will show you events from upcoming months.

Another cool addition has been the ability to export the events/birthdays. Click on the 'gear' on top-right and you can export the data into your Apple iCal, Microsoft Outlook or Google Calendar.

As with everything in social media, Facebook is trying to add a visually pleasing approach to organizing and tracking events. And especially after the 'Party Mode' feature in Google+ Events, where people can upload photos to the event page, Facebook must be innovative in its approach to integrate photos with events.