• May 9, 2008

The new profile page design on Facebook will give users greater control over their profiles and bring new challenges for developers, according to the Inside Facebook blog, which offered a glimpse of the new look.

Among the main changes, the redesigned page will have five basic tabs: Feed, Info, Wall, Photo and Boxes. Application profile boxes will be moved into the new Boxes tab, removing them from the default view of profile pages. That will make it tougher for people to discover and "re-engage" with applications.

"While much of the first year of the Facebook Platform has been about virality, it will be harder for purely 'viral' apps that don't provide much value to users to grow," he wrote. "The second year of the Facebook Platform will be about engagement."

The explosion of applications on Facebook has spawned complaints of time-wasting widgets cluttering up profile pages and diminishing the user experience. The profile page redesign, however, isn't aimed at punishing developers but rather balancing the interests of users and developers, Smith wrote.

--Mark Walsh