The Changes of Facebook

Facebook Changes Bring Complaints

Recently Facebook users have been gradually upgraded to a new layout for the fast-growing social network site. The company’s goals are twofold:

First, simplify and expand the tools to manage the ever-increasing volume of friends’ messages, links, photos and videos. Second, experiment with new forms of advertising. The overwhelming reaction from users is, “Ugh, you changed it!”

Just as newspaper readers are infuriated whenever their daily fish-wrap updates its layout, Facebook’s changes have brought down a hail of complaints from both light and heavy users.

The new design simplifies the layout of members’ profile pages. It seems unabashedly influenced by Twitter. A single column of updates, newest at the top. To the right of this stream runs a strip of “Highlights” that mixes ads with suggested Facebook groups, applications, video clips and potential friends. Needless to say, not everyone likes it.

No.1 gripe was that Facebook no longer let users delete their own status updates. Making these often hastily typed messages permanent would turn every ephemeral whim into a potential tombstone of humiliation.

But still have a good news for Facebook users: You can indeed delete your status updates. On Facebook, go to your profile page. Find the embarrassng post. Position your mouse cursor over it, and a faint blue X will appear in the entry’s uper right corner. Click the X to make the post and any attached comments from other Facebook members disappear forever. -NYT

By Paul Boutin