Facebook To Make Profiles More Prominent

[engine]

Facebook To Make Profiles More Prominent [blog.facebook.com]

Today I'm excited to introduce you to some improvements we've made to the Facebook profile, so now it's even easier for you to tell your story and learn about your friends.

The profile begins with a quick overview of basic information such as where you're from, where you went to school, and where you work—the kinds of conversation starters you share with people you've just met or exchange with old friends as you get reacquainted.

Hmmmm, is this another step to remove privacy? In addition, is it a step closer to linkedin's profiles? I'm seriously going to have to re-think even more closely than before what I post up there.

[coopster]

As of right now the "new profile" seems to be an opt-in selection.

We're really excited about the new profile. We're rolling it out gradually and plan to get it to everyone by early next year.

... meaning it will no longer be optional, correct?

[engine]

I looked at the and i'm not so keen. It's sure making moves into Linkedin territory.

[GaryK]

meaning it will no longer be optional, correct?

Zuckerberg didn't specifically say that last night in his 60 minutes interview, but that's certainly the impression I got.

I spent several hours playing with the new profile last night and found it very buggy in terms of the presentation layer. It's also cluttered-looking, too much info packed into too small an area, which I found quite confusing.

CNN is about to do a report on the things to lookout for with the new profile.

[coopster]

How about clearing your status? It's not evident how to clear it. Anybody have a clue?

[GaryK]

I'm not sure what you mean by "clearing your status."

[lexipixel]

My profile is perfectly clean and uncluttered -- but then again, I deleted all my info, photos, friends and wall posts 6 months ago.

[mcneely]

Trying it out .. much too busy IMO ..

[dailypress]

much too busy IMO ..

well all get used to it and forget what the previous design looked like.

Facebook can do anything, just like Google and the rest, we just follow.

[coopster]

I'm not sure what you mean by "clearing your status."

Previous version allowed you to set your status by typing something into your Profile page. Beneath the "new profile" look on your Profile page, right below the pictures, you now see an option to

Share: Status Photo Link Video

... as it was before. Problem is once you share a status, you cannot "Clear" the status. Your "current" status was listed at the top of your profile page before, now it is not. And since it is not there any longer, there is no longer the "Clear" link to clear your status.

I did a search on the Facebook Help page for clear status [facebook.com] and I found this link to file a report:

[facebook.com...]

[GaryK]

Ah, well now the way to clear aka delete your most recent status is to click "remove post", right?

I really dislike how the most recent status is being handled now because once someone posts something on my wall my own status gets moved further down my wall until eventually it can't be seen.

[Sgt_Kickaxe]

I can already contact my friends and family and don't need to live in a glass house for all to see, thanks anyway but this is too much.

This might be useful for those who need facebook for work or networking but that's not me, I'm out.

update: apparently a deleted account isn't deleted, they keep the data in case you want to join again...

[GaryK]

thanks anyway but this is too much.

I'm curious why this particular change is suddenly too much? There's no new privacy invasions, just poor user interface decisions resulting in an even worse ux.

update: apparently a deleted account isn't deleted, they keep the data in case you want to join again...

This is hardly breaking news. It's something most of us who are familiar with Facebook have known for many years now. Although, their reasons for retaining the data involves more than just wanting it to be available in case someone wants to re-enable a disabled profile. :)

[annej]

You can block any posts to your profile and as someone mentioned above you can simply not list anything on your profile. You have a lot of control as to what is shared with who on FB but it's a moving target and hard to keep on top of the changes they keep making. Better yet you can sign in as your cat or dog and only let friends and family know it's really you. :D

[mcneely]

Well I tucked everything back in for now with Greasemonkey and a little script called Un***k Facebook .. whew .. no more rediculous ads