Facebook Redesigns Profile Pages - DesignTAXI.com
This a really interesting link explaining how Facebook has redesigned its profile pages recently. The constant way in which Social Networking Sites are re-inventing their templates and pages brings to my mind- two things- one is Beer and Burrow's argument mentioned in my last post 'The firt trail on the map'. They talked of how profile pages are the commodity or what are "prosumed".
But it also got me thinking about a very interesting Masters' thesis- that of Jeff Gingers, I came across as part of my literature review so far. This designing and constant re-designing is what Gingers calls the "Politics of Interface". It's a very simple, but profound idea. Something that many of us, save probably designers, are aren't overtly sensitive to. While many sites- especially Social Networking Sites, Job Search sites, Dating sites; and in the India context- Matrimonial sites- allow us the "freedom" to design and personalize/customize our profile the way we want it, one needs to stop and ask- Do they really?
Has anyone every thought about how the basic information we need to put out in these sites determine how our profile pages look? Or how putting such information out may determine the choices we have with regard to our privacy? Further- like the above Design Taxi article states- Facebook has now pushed our photos to the fore, and is emphasizing work/education information. Have we stopped to ask- Do I want my pictures to speak for me? For after all,when someone takes a picture of you,it come from the perspective of the photographer, and not necessarily the subject being photographed.
So while most of us our struggling with changes in User Interface when a web page's design changes around, maybe we should stop to ask how such a redesign influences, and probably determines the way" we build" our profile pages?? Is there really a "freedom of choice" there?
I continue to muse...
Cheers!
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