Top Ten Bad Things About Facebook's Redesign

Last week, Facebook overhauled its site for the second time in only about nine months or so, and the reviews are in: it sucks. And it sucks in the most insidious ways. You see, at first glance, things don’t seem too drastically different. Navigation and usability is more or less the same (unlike the last transformation which was a radical change from the previous layout). However, the more one uses the new Facebook, the more terrible it gets. Little tweaks and changes become apparent, and soon it’s very obvious that the problems with New Facebook aren’t just kneejerk reactions against change. There are some major flaws with the new design, and I’m going to endeavor to detail them all right here.

1. Where the hell is my status?
The signature element of Facebook is the status update. Some might say it’s what helped the site overtake MySpace. And yet, users who arrive on their Facebook homepage now must contend with a horrifying reality: their status updates are nowhere to be found. Sure, you can enter a new status update, but you can’t actually see your current status unless it’s been posted within the past twenty minutes or so. In order to see what you’d previously written, you have to click through to your Facebook profile page — a simple step, but an inconvenient one nonetheless. Even Twitter allows users to view their most recent “Tweet,” even if it occurred days or hours ago.
I, of course, mention Twitter because the New Facebook seems inordinately concerned with trying to mimic that lesser site, which brings me to my next point…
2. Facebook is not Twitter; so stop acting like it.
Yes, Twitter may be very in vogue right now, but its appeal and usage is limited. Twitter is a place for quick blasts and social updates. Facebook is a destination for hours of mindless procrastination. There’s no need for Mark Zuckerberg to pander. In fact, Twitter doesn’t do anything that Facebook didn’t already do. But alas, Facebook has attempted to out-Twitter Twitter. No longer do updates read “Ben Mandelker wrote on Sherayay Whitfield’s Wall.” Instead we get the cryptic “Ben Mandelker [tiny triangle] Sherayay Whitfield.” It’s a visual nod to the “@[username]” functionality of Twitter, but whereas that style works on Twitter — which is so intrinsically linked to SMS language and its limitations — it feels strange and counterintuitive on Facebook. There’s no reason not to say “x wrote on y’s wall.” It’s not like there’s a lack of space, unlike Twitter which must maintain 140 characters or less to fit into a proper text message. The whole thing is stupid. At the very least make the triangle/arrow larger.
3. Highlights are lowlights.
In an attempt to broaden our horizons about what else is out there on Facebook, the site lists a bunch of items that it deems interesting, or specifically, a “highlight.” These are housed to the right of the screen in a long column that runs alongside the status feed on the homepage. And as you might imagine, very few of these “highlights” are actually very interesting. I don’t begrudge that. An algorithm can only be so successful. What I do begrudge, however, is the inability to make specific highlights disappear. There is no modification allowed whatsoever. That means that certain people I don’t want to hear about still clog up my homepage. And if it’s not people, it’s public figures. For instance, at this very moment, I’m being told that two of my friends have become fans of something called “FML.” Great. I’m not a fan. And I don’t want to be a fan. But now I’m stuck with that crap on my sidebar. It’s totally useless. And you know what happens when you’ve got an entire sidebar full of predominantly useless information? You stop looking. And when you stop looking, you either miss stuff you might need, or you skip other vital information that’s quietly flanking the highlights. Which brings me to the next point…
4. Birthdays, Friends You May Know, and Events are all lost in the mix.
With old Facebook, I always knew when it was someone’s birthday, and I always knew when someone’s birthday was coming up. Now I don’t know until the day of, and even worse, it’s easy to overlook the small section which houses not just birthdays, but events and other important items. That’s because it’s up in the right hand corner of the homepage in small text. That combined with its proximity to an ad and then the aforementioned highlights bar makes it totally forgettable. Sure, I guess it’s up to me, the user, to seek this stuff out, but really, if there’s anything I learned in the whole TVgasm sellout debacle, it’s that you should never make the users work to get to content. It should just be there.
And as for “Friends You May Know,” that feature is now literally buried in the homepage below the cyber “fold” of the screen. Why even have it anymore?
5. More about?
Gone are the days of “Less About” and “More About.” On the one hand, I do like that I can just click the “x” on someone’s update and remove them entirely from my feed for the rest of eternity (unless I later reverse it). However, I do miss the “More About” function. With so many updates, I want to be sure I don’t miss anything from my inner-circle. Sure, I could make a group of those people and set the feed to filter out all the rest, but then I don’t want to necessarily seal out everyone. With the old Facebook, I could get an emphasis on my close friends while still learning about others I’m not as strongly tied with. There’s no middle ground with New Facebook. It’s either everyone or no one.
6. Too much clutter.
Getting annoyed with all these quizzes people keep taking? Back with old Facebook, there were filters for such things. Now we just have to sit and watch as our feed fills up with update after update about people learning where they should live, what painting they should be, or what style of seafaring vessel would best suit their personality. It’s awful. Where are the filters?
7. Whither the live feed?
I was never a huge Live Feed watcher, but I know plenty of people who would happily sit and stare at it all day long, watching as updates trickled through every minute. Well, guess what? Those days are over. The live feed is gone, and despite claims to the contrary, the homepage feed is not the same. Another case of popular functionality removed for no real reason.
8. Whither album covers?
Back in the day (ie. two weeks ago), users could select a photo album cover which would show up all big and glossy in their profiles — the better to attract prospective viewers. Now, however, new albums only show up as a trio of small-ish pics. It’s hardly enticing, and for those people who actually spent time carefully selecting an album cover, it’s kind of a slap in the face.
Also, when photos do get posted in the feed, I’m not sure I like this whole notion of putting the caption above the pics. Facebook can do a lot of things, but it can’t buck hundreds of years of image-caption protocol. Let’s get those captions back underneath, please. Thanks.
9. Fake comments
In an effort to spur on commenting, the site now places your profile picture next to the commenting form, an addition that contributes to both the clutter and the confusion of the site. I’ve spoken to many people who hate this new feature as it frequently causes them to do double-takes — “Did I just comment on that by accident?” Not a major issue, but annoying nonetheless.
10. Fix mobile uploads.
Mobile uploads used to arrive on my profile immediately. Now they take upwards of a few hours to show up, and then when they do, they’re all small in the feed and janky-looking in the mobile uploads sidebar. This is not a major complaint, but someone should fix this bug.
I’m sure there are plenty more awful elements to the redesign that have yet to affect me, but for now, this list will do. If you agree with these problems, be sure to post it to your profile or DIgg it or just forward it along. Maybe if enough people back it, the powers that be will make some changes.
For similar grumblings, check out this article from Gawker. And remember, you can become a fan of this blog on Facebook (FYI, the fan pages are much better now) and follow me on Twitter.
How do you feel about the redesign? Do you like it? Do you hate it? What are your problems with it? If I get enough suggestions, I’ll surely do a Vol. II of Facebook complaints.