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January 25, 2007
8:20
Pimp My Privacy
» ‎ Facebook

Facebook has always provided sophisticated privacy settings to allow people to share information, and control exactly who sees it—for example, "everyone in a network," "only friends," or even "no one". Now, a new design for the My Privacy page makes it even easier to use.

Beginning with the Privacy Overview page, you'll notice that the "Networks" section has been replaced with a "Profile" section. Also, next to each "Edit Settings" link, we have placed "sparklines"—small lines that serve as a visual representation of your privacy settings for a section or feature. The longer the line, the more open your settings.
The new Profile section and corresponding sparkline.
The new Profile privacy page has the same information as before, but it's more powerful because you can control the privacy settings for all your networks from this one page. Even users with no networks can now control certain features, such as who can see their Wall. Below, you can see different settings for three Profile Features and their corresponding easy-to-compare sparklines.
Individual settings for individual features
Other pages on Facebook also benefit from this new design, including Photos privacy, and Profile Contact settings.
It's easier to see what your privacy settings mean for photos.
We hope these changes make the My Privacy page even easier to use, so everyone can feel comfortable with the information they put up on Facebook. As always, send us your feedback here.

Nico, a Facebook engineer, is keeping it real on the privacy tip for everyone on Facebook. He has been inspired by Tufte's work and believes that "good design is clear thinking made visible."
January 18, 2007
17:08
The End of the IM Curtain
» ‎ Facebook

Facebook users tend to be vocal with their suggestions about how to improve the site, and the growing set of international Facebook users is no different. Facebook users in countries outside the US have frequently asked us to add the ability to list screen names for multiple IM clients in the contact information section of their profiles. Today we launched that feature, to make it easier for all Facebook users to contact their friends online.

Choices, choices...So if you and your friends use MSN Messenger or Skype to chat in your part of the world, you can now list your MSN and Skype screen names on your profile. Likewise, if you live in the US, you can look up the screen names and IM clients of your Facebook friends in other countries.

Wherever you are, let us know how to improve Facebook.More generally, Facebook is always looking for feedback from international users. We want to make it easy for you to share information with your friends, no matter where you live (or don't live...my friend Micaela's current address reads "various South American airports"). This is why we made regional networks for all parts of the world, and why various Facebook engineers and I sometimes stay up until 4 AM launching school networks in countries from Peru to Germany to India. We made these networks for you. Let us know if there's anything we can make better.

Kate, a Customer Support Rep, is backpacking around Brazil next month, and is stoked that now she'll be able to look up her new friends' screen names.
January 11, 2007
7:45
Facebook Your Phone
» ‎ Facebook
Facebook was invented to make sharing information with your friends easier and better. Mobile phones were invented for pretty much the same reason. People needed an easier and better way to get in touch with each other, and mobile phones made it happen.

We pondered this for a bit, quickly realized that pondering wasn't making anything awesome happen, and then started building Facebook Mobile. We're now happy to report that Facebook Mobile has services available for every Facebook user with a phone. Here's what they are:
- Mobile Web lets you surf Facebook on your phone just like the normal website… except that it actually fits on the screen.
- Mobile Uploads lets you send photos and notes to Facebook when you're out and about. We know from experience that really cool things are likely to happen when you're not sitting in front of a computer.
See what exciting things one finds when venturing out into the sunlight?
- Mobile Texts lets you send and receive Facebook messages, wall posts and pokes using text messages, plus you can update your status and search profiles from your phone. Remember that time when you needed to call someone, didn't have their number, but you knew that it was on Facebook? Yeah, that was the worst. Fear no more.
The new My Mobile page has lots more information and demos of these services. It's also where we'll be introducing new mobile products in the future. You just might find that your phone is good for more than talking. Like using Facebook.

Mark Slee, a Facebook engineer, is out exploring the world, and uploading all his discoveries directly to Facebook.
January 03, 2007
22:08
New Year's "Resolutions"
» ‎ Facebook

We've spent a lot of time on this blog going over what's already been accomplished—what we've changed, launched, re-launched, etc. So we wanted to spend some time talking about what's coming up in the next little while. Here are some of the ideas we'll be toying with and thinking about in the coming year.

1. Networks—The network structure is one of Facebook's defining features, and we won't be taking that away. However, we will be trying to hone in on what makes networks on Facebook similar to those in the "real-world," and how to make them more relevant to each user's experience on the site.

2. Simplicity—There's a lot of stuff on Facebook. A lot of features. A lot of information. In the year to come, we'll be improving on the design of the site, making it easier to use and understand, while still providing all of the functionality and information we know and love.

3. Flexibility—Everyone wants something a little different out of Facebook. Some people post a new photo album daily. Some are importing their blog. Some need to keep in touch with a group of friends that are in ever widening geographic circles. Whatever it is you want to do with Facebook, we want to optimize your experience. We're going to be thinking more about the right ways to give you the controls you need over Facebook information, friends, and products.

So those are our big ideas for 2007. If you have any insight into them, please, let us know. Stay tuned for more feature enhancements and solutions in the coming year.

Katie Geminder, Director of Product, is so perfect she doesn't even need resolutions for improvement.

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