Seriously, stop whining.

1. Only one problem with this article; the latest ‘new Facebook’ is more than just a redesign. It fundamentally changed the way the site works and, yes, Twitter-izing it.

   This shows a real problem with FB’s process. If their users wanted Twitter, they’d get Twitter (and a great many already have). But hiding (note that I said “hiding,” not moving) the basic functionality people have come to expect is not a good business move.

   My theory is that this redesign, like all redesigns, is about money. And it should be; FB is a business. But it’s obvious that applications were bumped up in priority in the feed. In the previous iterations, I could blissfully browse around, not caring about who’s sending what to who else or who’s taking what quiz (except clicking that glorious “Ignore all” every few days). But I can’t do that anymore. Now, whenever some idiot sends a Lil’ Green Patch to 50 of their favorite friends, I have to know.

   How does that make them money? It doesn’t, until they introduce a pricing plan for app developers. That’s my prediction.

   Regardless, I think this redesign is the moment FB jumped the shark.

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2. Fundementally changing the way the site works? How so. For all the sound and fury from the children who fear change on Facebook, I have yet to notice any substantial difference between today’s Facebook and a month ago’s Facebook.

   In fact, design-wise, I prefer today’s model. It puts everything I want pretty up front where I want it. And like last month’s Facebook, it still hides the glut of apps behind a series of walls. Granted, I get alerts when somebody takes a quiz or posts a 5 Things List, but I don’t see every time a friend creates a poop museum on Pet Society.

   People keep talking about FB Twitterizing the site, but with the exception of the removal of “is” from the status input, FB seems to be same as it ever was to me. (Or at least same as it was last month.) The Stream or Feed or whatever we’re calling it was already there. That became the focus of the site last summer. None of this stuff is new.

   And Facebook still offers a better platform than Twitter because it allows/encourages interaction via commenting. Twitter is like blogging circa 2000. Facebook is like blogging circa 2001. Of course, the nameless hoards can’t follow your Facebook, so depending on how desperate you are for strangers to think highly of you, that could be good or bad.

   The Danes last blog post..20081119.ChurchLies

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3. I for the life of me can find any changes concerning facebook that are so significant to warrant the responses I’ve seen.

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4. @TheDane You’re right, I incorrectly stated that it “fundamentally changed the way the site works.” I should’ve said it fundamentally changes the way I use the site.

   A month ago, I could easily scan through my feed and get an overview of what’s happening. If I wanted certain types of posts to be given more or less priority, I could easily change that (single-line, multi-line, remove). Now, my ability to scan and choose what items I want to look at is gone. I have to see everything, and the only way I can get anything out (like the multiple-gifts, etc.) is to completely hide someone. I may want to still see their status updates, though. I still maintain that a major purpose of the redesign was to emphasize applications more.

   If they add some better filtering (like allowing me to hide or deemphasize applications), I’ll be fine. Come to think of it, I’ll be fine either way; it’s just a website.

   Anywho, I’ve spent way too much time writing about this, but the singular purpose of this post seemed to be enticing comments, so I bit.

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