It’s possible that someone on the Facebook design team is a Snapchatter, because some of the profile enhancements announced today are straight out of Snapchat’s playbook.
The three main enhancements announced today provide further opportunities for people to express themselves on the world’s largest social network.
Profile Videos
With the first of the new features, you can add some action to your profile photos with Snapcode Selfies animated GIFs. Facebook sidesteps the Snapchat comparison by calling this an “obvious evolution” of profile photos.
Using Facebook’s profile videos you can film a short, looping video clip that will play when people land on your profile page on their mobile device.
Improved Profile Controls
A new, customizable space sitting at the top of your profile will help you to better control what people see about you when they land on your profile.
You can curate this space with data about yourself that you want others to see. In addition, there will be a new one-line bio field, and the ability to upload up to 5 featured photos.
Everyone can see this box on your profile, but you have full control over what goes in there.
Design Improvements
The overall design of profile pages have been improved to put your face front and center — reminiscent of many popular mobile designs for Tumblr pages.
Some miscellaneous improvements have been made to help you learn more about people you’ve just met and catch the interesting visual content from the friends you already know.
“People love seeing photos and mutual friends when viewing the profiles of friends or someone they’ve just met, so those are easier to see now on profile. Photos and friends are right at the top, making getting to know someone and seeing the world through your friends’ eyes as easy as scrolling.”
These new features are all initially be rolled out as a test amongst a small number of iPhone users in the UK and California. Facebook says these features will be available to more people soon.
Image Credit: 10 FACE / Shutterstock.com
