Binks Is Here

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Facebook’s Starting to Listen…

Looks like Facebook’s actually beginning to pay attention to users. I guess they’ve realized that they’re not the only kid on the block right now.

In a news post saying what everyone else has been saying for months, Facebook announced that some users have complained that “friends’ profiles are getting too cluttered, and that people are having trouble finding the information they are looking for on their friends’ profiles.”

So, Facebook is announcing a new feature - the ability to put apps into an “extended profile”. From the sounds of things, people can tuck apps into a box called “extended profile” that will be loaded on request. If I had to guess, it would be very similar in form and function to the “Show Comments” link under posts on my homepage.

Unfortunately, such a process will not be automatic. People will have to choose what apps to tuck into the “extended profile box”

I think this is a good start… personally, I’d like to see three levels of profiles. I’d like to customize how I see other user’s pages (So, I could choose what apps and in what order I want displayed on all friend’s pages, assuming I have access to those apps). That allows me to decide how I want to view my friend’s information.

Then, I’d like to have a second option to view the profile - the view that my friend has figured that I should use on their page, where they have chosen to display apps that they think are important, in an order that they choose.

And then a third, the “extended profile” option.

So, on my own page, I have the Courses application, so I can lay out my schedule for anyone who’s interested. I’ve chosen to put it above my wall, because I think it’s neat and I think that, that way, people can know what I’m up to at any given time. However, that’s what I think is important - a friend of mine might think that viewing my schedule is completely irrelevant, and should have the option of displaying that information lower on the page or not at all, according to their own “custom view” settings.