As I connect with more and more friends from long ago, I’ve come to an awareness that you can’t find anywhere else (simply because Facebook is where we all gather); confirmation that the snobby kids in grammar school are still snobby, the mean ones are still mean, and the cool fun kids are still magnetic.  All my juvenile judgments have been substantiated! Where else can you get a glimpse into the lives of all of your ex-boyfriends or girlfriends, how they are living, what they are doing, and what your life might have been like if you took the path of a lifelong journey with them. Choices of long ago are either validated or questioned.

Last night’s Facebook treat was a post by a high school friend who shared information about the meteor showers occurring last night and tonight between 10 p.m. and dawn. Normally, I might have given it a scant moment’s notice, but he provided so much data with such zest that I was compelled to walk outside at midnight and look up at the sky. I saw five meteor showers in about 15 minutes. It was the most amazing, naturally beautiful spectacle – long streaks of bright light flashing across the sky directly above me. Incredible. So, I thank Facebook and all the “posters” who share life, wisdom and enthusiasm.

I admittedly should watch the news more often. But when I woke up on Monday morning, I pulled my iPhone off the charger, opened my Facebook app and began reading statuses. Comments like “OBAMA KILLS OSAMA” and “Osama bin Laden is dead!” were sprawled across the screen. This was how I first heard the news. This is the medium by which I have received breaking headlines a lot recently, like the tragedies in Tuscaloosa and the death of Elizabeth Taylor.

The celebrity obsession with Twitter has added a new dimension to the social media craze. We all remember when Charlie Sheen decided to finally join to the Twitter world. Gaining a staggering 1 million followers in 25 hours with witty hash tags (#WINNING, #TIGERBLOOD), Charlie Sheen set a new Guinness World Record (and I’m guilty of being one of those 1 million.) Tons of celebrities logged into Twitter Monday to share their thoughts of the Osama bin Laden news. And they were not in vain. Jimmy Fallon’s tweet, “Got Bin Laden AND interrupted Celebrity Apprentice? Win for Obama all around” was re-tweeted 7,000 times.

Are we beginning to replace credible news sources with social media for our information on world events? When Michael Jackson died, I was at a barbeque with some friends. I listened while the conversation took an interesting turn:

“I won’t believe it until it’s on FOX.”
“I won’t believe it until it’s on Wikipedia.”
“I won’t believe it until it’s on Perez Hilton.”
“I won’t believe it until it’s on Facebook.”
“I won’t believe it until Ashton Kutcher tweets it.”

While I agree social media has wonderful aspects, especially in the advertising and PR world, it could become a problem if people begin taking all posts and tweets at face value. The best, most responsible method I have found is to be alerted on Facebook and Twitter, but then follow up with a more accurate news source, like the Wall Street Journal or New York Times. But for now, as long as you are getting some source of world events, even if it’s in celebrity form – like Kim Kardashian or Paris Hilton on Twitter – it’s better than not knowing what’s going on at all.

While I was pretty surprised by the sudden shift across my Pages, here are my thoughts about some of the changes thus far.

THE GOOD
“Login as” Page: With this new feature, I finally have my autonomy back. I’m now able to post a comment on the Pages I manage without it coming from the Pages themselves. I get to have my own opinion! This feature also allows me to receive notifications on comments, likes, and updates to the Page, much like I do on my regular profile. As I’m an admin for multiple Pages, this is both a help and a hassle. It took me awhile to rediscover my Insights as well.

THE BAD
Tabs (Custom or Otherwise): The new layout has removed the tabs that we’ve all gotten to know and love. Custom FBML is still active, but cannot currently be set to the default landing page, which means that custom tabs are now lost in the shuffle. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that Facebook resolves this issue quickly.

THE ANNOYING
No warning: Facebook launched the new layout without an announcement. We were given no warning, and I have some pretty strong feelings as to why. The Page/Place merger was a beta test to see how people liked the new layout Facebook would soon be unrolling. Most people weren’t thrilled at being stuck with the new layout and made a fuss. Facebook as determined to move ahead with the new layout, regardless of the user experience and desire, and didn’t want to have to fight opinions on their decisions to push out the old and welcome in the new. I hope no one was under the misunderstanding that Facebook worked as a democracy.

And that’s pretty much that. I’ll post an update when I’ve had a chance to explore the change further. I’ve been having spotty access to Facebook since they made the switch.

Simple interpretation? You don’t get the guilt of clicking “ignore” on those people you recognize or remember but have no desire to reconnect with. And they, seeing the “Awaiting Friend Confirmation” status, will give you and your schedule the benefit of the doubt.

Snarkiness aside, the “Not Now” feature does automatically store these requests in a “Hidden Requests” menu—giving you the option to later amend your decision by “Confirming,” or the ability to decide once and for all to “Delete Request.” If you decide to deny friendship to a would-be, you can optionally mark that you don’t know them, which will block them from all future attempts to friend you.

I have to say that the ability to block the user is of specific interest to me, because from time to time we all get spammed by random individuals on a friending spree. However, in terms of being automatically filed to a “Hidden Requests” menu, I find that particular functionality unnecessary. Just give me the option to “Confirm,” “Ignore,” “Block” or “Not Now” from the get-go.

I sort every friend request I accept into specific groups, each with limits as to which updates or areas of my profile are visible. Not because I have anything to hide (my life’s not THAT interesting, I assure you), but more as an assurance that I don’t subject my “friends” to an overshare. Family things are relegated to updates that only family members are privy to, professional or client-related posts are usually public so I can help get the word out on upcoming events and general updates are visible to acquaintances and the occasional friend of a friend. t

Aside from the block user feature, I’m not sure that the “Hidden Request” menu adds any additional functionality that will delight avid Facebook users, but I guess we’ll all have a better idea of its pros and cons once it has actually launched. Stay tuned.

Facebook, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it! Why would you replace the option to fan pages with the watered-down ability to like them?

The Pages that I’ve chosen to fan over the last year and a half were entities, causes or companies that I was truly happy to champion. Now you’ve sullied that thrill of support with the extension of the “like” feature. I mean, there’s nothing wrong with liking things, but it’s so vanilla compared to the Cherry Garcia bliss of fanning things.

Rawr. I mean, seriously…what comes to mind when you envision fans, sports fans in particular? I envision a rabid throng of impassioned people who are roaring their support for a team.

Now compare that to someone who likes something. The change just doesn’t make sense to me, so I looked into the company’s reasoning, which I’ve posted below, straight from Facebook FAQs…

Why did “Become a Fan” change to “Like”?
To improve your experience and promote consistency across the site, we’ve changed the language for Pages from “Fan” to “Like.” We believe this change offers you a more light-weight and standard way to connect with people, things and topics in which you are interested.

In conjunction with this roll-out of universal liking, Facebook has also launched Community Pages, a collection of commentary about broad topics like fencing or country music. These work a little differently than Pages, culling through user-posted content and adding relevant posts to the Community Page, reminiscent of the hashtags that are so popular on Twitter.

How has your Facebook experience been affected by these changes?

It may not sound like much, but to the people who live and die by their ability to keep up with their networks in a timely manner (think instant gratification), this functionality could be huge. Especially since the test seems to be going well. Rumor has it the functionality is seamless and fast. Just ask the folks at Download Squad.

As Adam pointed out in his article, this feature will affect Facebook’s page views, since a user will no longer have to log in to communicate with others on the network, but the sacrifice may be worthwhile in terms of the big picture.

It looks like Facebook is out to prove to the folks at Twitter and the world-at-large that they’re still the kings of this social media mountain.

How do you think this new feature will affect your Facebook experience?