Having nearly tripled its audience and added about 20,000 new applications over the past year, Facebook Inc.’s popular online hangout is about to undergo a housecleaning.
Visitors who can’t stand the clutter that’s been piling up will be glad to see that the site’s new look sweeps disparate bits of information into categories marked by tabs at the top of each user’s customized home page.
Basic personal background and interests will be filed under an “info” tab, for instance, while news about users’ buddies’ latest activities will land under a “feed” tab, pictures will be corralled in a “photo” section and applications will be easily located under a “programs” tab. That content is now scattered, creating a confusing mishmash that has frustrated some Facebook users.
The facelift, in the works since January, is to debut in June.
Besides tidying the site, the overhaul should give users more control over their profiles, Facebook managers said Wednesday as they previewed the redesign at the startup’s Palo Alto headquarters. Users will be able to magnify information they want to emphasize and downplay other features, for example.
Even so, many users are likely to protest, said Mark Slee, the Facebook product manager overseeing the facelift. Continue Reading »