Major changes are coming to one of the most visited websites in the world. Yesterday, Facebook unveiled a major redesign, as part of the social networking giant's shift towards group-based communications instead of public dissemination of information.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced the shift in focus last month, amid a series of controversies regarding users' privacy and the platform's role in spreading disinformation in the 2016 election.

A first look at the redesign of Facebook.

According to a report in the New York Times , Facebook users will be able to more easily message one another and share news and other items with members of private groups, and the main platform will incorporate Facebook's different messaging services, which include WhatsApp and Messenger.

The company also plans to continue emphasizing its Stories product, which allows people to post updates that disappear after 24 hours. This is a popular feature on Instagram, which is also owned by Facebook.

"By far, the three fastest-growing areas of online communication are private messaging, groups and Stories," Zuckerberg said in an interview. "In 2019, we expect the amount of Stories that are shared to outnumber the amount of Feed posts that are shared."

Zuckerberg says the changes will make Facebook a more "trustworthy platform."

The most striking change to the typical user will be the new look of the Facebook homepage. A new banner and stark white background, along with prompts to join group chats or groups related to the users' interests, will greet both mobile and desktop users.

The Associated Press notes that such redesign carries significant risk, noting, "When Snapchat rolled out major changes in late 2017, people hated them so much the service lost 3 million users in a single quarter; analysts think it still hasn't recovered."

Images courtesy Facebook.