Facebook has done it again, this time it’s a new facelift. The thought behind these recent changes are to make things easier for people to connect by sharing more about who they are and what they’re up to.
Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Facebook, unveiled the new look just last Sunday on 60 Minutes. You can view that interview below.
To start with, your profile photo is larger and your photos and information are front and center near the top of the page. Where you live, work, your hometown, where you went to school and your birthday are right directly under your name near the top of the screen. If you click on a friend’s name, you can view your relationship with that particular person including everything you have interacted about since you became friends.
Your friends and family are also being featured on Facebook as well. Family members are listed over in the left column right alongside of your friends. You now have an option of featuring some of your friends that you might think are special by creating a list also in the left column of your profile.
Facebook was quick to point out that as far as privacy settings go, nothing has changed. But the one thing that is different is that some of the information that was once kind of hidden will now jump right out for everyone to see who visits your page.
Get New Profile
If you are interested in checking out the new changes and would like to implement this new look, you can head on over to http://www.facebook.com/about/profile and just click on “Get New Profile”.
What People See
Once you have upgraded to the new look, you can preview it so you can see what other people are seeing when they come to your profile. Just click on “Account” located in the upper right corner, select “Privacy Settings” and then click “Preview My Profile”. That will show you the page that everyone will see, including people who are not yet your friend.
One thing about the new set up is that regardless of how you may have your privacy settings configured, everyone on Facebook will be able to see your name, where you work, your school, your relationship status, your birth date, where you live and your home town.
The good news is that you can change that information by editing your profile and deleting that information, but if you have that information included, it will be shown.
Your Family Members
Good news is that you do have the option of hiding the list of your family members and friends but it has to be changed in two separate places. To hide your family members just go to “Privacy Settings”, click on “Customize Settings” and use the drop down menu next to “Family” to limit who can see that information. You can customize this by limiting it to specific people or just yourself. To hide your list of friends, go to “Privacy Settings” but this time click on “View Settings” and change the option next to “See your Friends List”.
Feature Friends
You can also create a list of friends who you would like to feature on your profile page. To set this up just go back to your Profile page and hover your mouse over “Friends” in the left column and then click on the little pencil that pops up. At the bottom of the “Featured Relationship” section of that page you’ll see the “Create New List” link. Enter a name for the list like “Featured Friends” and start typing in names. Once you create a list it will be added to your profile but you can remove it from the profile by clicking the “x” next to it.
Now if you want to add or delete friends from a list you need to do this in a different location. Click on the name of the list from your profile (or select “Edit Friends” from the account drop down list in the right corner of any page) and then click “Edit Friends”. When you hover over any friend’s name an “Edit Lists” a link pops up which you can use to add or remove that friend from the list.
It sounds really complicated but it’s just one more thing we will all have to get use to. This is what happens when things change, out with the old and in with the new whether we like it or not. Personally, I think the programmers over at Facebook could use a few organizational skills and set this entire layout up to be a little more user friendly. But what do I know, right!
Hope this post helped. Hey, good luck to you all and leave me a comment. Would love to know what your thoughts are on the new changes.
Here is the CBS Interview on 60 Minutes with Mark Zuckerberg:
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Facebook is the Google of the Social Market. As frustrating as it is to finally get the hang of the “new” format, another ones seems to hit us- but at least they are making it easier to understand and use. Zuckerberg is really enforcing the whole “time for change” attitude. Do you think the new format is a lot better or not?
You are right about that. Facebook is Google when it comes to social networking.
Not sure if people are finding it easier to understand but I don’t care for this new layout. It’s not as user friendly and they really need to hire some women over there at Facebook. LOL!!!
Adrienne