Facebook's Redesign Likes People Who Share Everything

Facebook is completely redesigning its layout, but online consternation grows due to privacy issues.

Facebook's new frictionless sharing feature lets any application you choose to tell all your friends what you are doing when you do it. It doesn't notify you when it does it, instead you must allow the app to have your permission, and from there it shares all your reading habits or what you're listening to, for example.

If you're watching a Netflix video, Facebook will display that in the new Live Feed display on the right side of your profile. Live Feed is a constant stream of data, unlike the more prominent status updates everybody is used to. However, if a few of your friends are all watching the same Netflix movie, then Facebook will notice and add that bit of info to your news feed.

For those concerned about oversharing, as Facebook will tell you, just don't give that permission to every app that comes along. It's a delicate balance, and plenty of people including the ACLU are screaming invasion of privacy. But if you're not easily phased by that sort of thing, then the new Facebook layout is perfect for you.

Besides the frictionless sharing, there is also the new Timeline function that lays out your whole Facebook history, not just the most recent updates. Facebook will be encouraging people to fill in that timeline, thus giving them, er, your friends, a more complete picture of you. Facebook is banking on people to add to the Timeline, especially any information from before they joined Facebook. It means you don't even have to use the like button anymore for the apps you allow. If you enable the Washington Post app to have permission, whenever you read one of their stories on Facebook, your friends will know. The changes were announced in September, and should be available to all 800 million users in within a few weeks.

Tell us in the comments if you like Facebook's constantly changing layout.