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Simpler, More Relevant Profiles

February 22, 2008ByPete Bratach

Lately, Facebook profiles have become slower, more cluttered, and somewhat difficult to parse. Over the next few weeks, we'll roll out a number of improvements to the Facebook profile that are going to make the profile simpler, more relevant, and provide users with a greater degree of control.

The improved profile design helps better align the goals of application developers with the principles of the Platform ecosystem by:

  • Helping users communicate and share information more efficiently
  • Generating more meaningful activity
  • Providing valuable information to users
  • Increasing user trust

Applications that further these objectives will be more successful and achieve greater usage. We encourage application developers to focus on building applications that facilitate communication, generate meaningful activity, and increase users' trust.

How will the improved profile design affect existing applications? We're going to give your applications more integration points within the profile so your applications fit more seamlessly into the Facebook user experience. Applications that use these tools in a way that users find valuable and meaningful will find success. However, some challenges could lie ahead for those applications that don't provide value and meaning for users.

In the coming weeks, we'll gradually release the changes and inform the community before they happen. Developers will have a transition period to make any changes that might be needed. These changes mean rich, engaging applications that will attract and satisfy more users.

We'll share more information on this page as we roll out the new design. We'll publish more details Tuesday with some screen shots illustrating some of the new integration points. We'd love to hear what you think, so if you have any comments or questions, please contact us at developers-help@facebook.com. Please put [new profile] in the subject line.


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