Facebook is dead

As you may know, the new Facebook hides the apps away on a page called "Boxes", which is listed 4th in the user page sub menu. But, the natural order of profiles has not been restored. Your activity stream is merged with the wall to become the default profile view, with your profile info (i.e. your actual profile) pushed to second.

It's pretty smart. Facebook has morphed into a Friendfeed or a Twitter. Your bio or other personal info is mainly static and therefore irrelevant, whereas your activity is fresh and interesting. Even less appealing is a list of personality quizzes you've taken, which is what passes for apps.

The Facebook team has done such a good job hiding the apps that I realized that I hadn't seen any in weeks. I thought a proper goodbye was in order, so I headed over to my friend Chase's profile to reminisce about the platform. He is probably one of its biggest fans, installing everything possible. I found this particularly amusing:

I mean, it's a steal! You'd be a fool to not take a 99.7% discount.


I just worry about the health of Facebook. The miniscule font size is particularly troubling. It's not too bad if you bump it up to double its original size, but come on. Also, the conversation seems to have died down. A lot of people are moving on and it's becoming apparent that Facebook is not much more than a phonebook. The saving grace will be if it can become the internet's single sign-on, which will be tested on Digg soon.