24th
As far as ads go, boohoo, they’re making money, which is only bad insofar as I want Facebook to fail (because data-portability problems, not interface qualms)…
What you’re describing here and what I’m quoted to be arguing here are not quite my complaint. I have nothing against the ads per se. If they wanted to double double the height of the advertisements in the old layout, I wouldn’t give a damn. But I see in the new machinations that force users to view more of them a motive for (what I consider to be) an otherwise ill-advised redesign scheme.
The shift from “what are you like” to “what are you doing” has been a long time in the making (remember the newsfeed hubbub?), and is deeply rooted in Facebook’s business plan—both in terms of increasing browsing times and competing with the likes of twitter. If my interviews with 15-25 year olds are any indicator, however, checking the wall is simply what core users like to do.
Most 15-25 year olds on twitter probably should not be, and for reasons that emphasizing that sort of functionality on facebook only heightens. I’ve felt positive about getting involved in our little corner of tumble logs and, to a lesser extent, twitter because—contrary to the vast majority of users—we are using them to communicate ideas rather than describe our personal or social (except in the broadest sense) situations and activities. Things of the latter nature are a waste of time. They are also what facebook—a social network site based around personal profiles—inclines toward. I think the discursive regimes governing the status update and wall will make very difficult any attempt to use them to a substantive purpose. They may have dropped is from the status bar, but they’ve kept our names firmly front and center.
Late Update: Daniel’s right about the paucity of @sy-y projects on thefacebook (though this is not directly worsened by the redesign). My occasional attempts at art on thefacebook were pretty qualified successes, and mostly just groups. Even your jokes were under-received.
