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Ok, well, if this is really some big ploy by Facebook to now allow their employees to have personal blogs, then why do so many exist? https://medium.com/facebo

Ok, well, if this is really some big ploy by Facebook to now allow their employees to have personal blogs, then why do so many exist? https://medium.com/facebook-design https://medium.com/facebook-design

astrodust 8y ago
It's probably because as a designer Facebook is fucking ugly and at least Medium has decent typography.
- rhizome 8y ago
  I suspect the function of design at FB is oriented more toward consistency than beauty.
  - astrodust 8y ago
    If by "consistency" you mean "function over form" then sure. It's basically brutalist.
    - peterwwillis 8y ago
      If a website's aesthetics were important to Facebook's users they never would have joined. http://www.businessinsider.com/what-facebook-used-to-look-like-2014-2#this-is-what-a-facebook-group-page-looked-like-in-2005-2 http://www.businessinsider.com/what-facebook-used-to-look-li...
      - astrodust 8y ago
        Like Craigslist, people don't really have a choice with Facebook. You either use it, as ugly as it is, or don't.
        peterwwillis 8y ago
        I'm not sure what you mean. You mean they don't have a choice in the design? Because there were plenty of alternatives (MySpace). Facebook just provided a better experience.
        astrodust 8y ago
        Facebook's software might be better, their uptake was better, but that doesn't mean their site is more visually appealing. It just means it's more effective. Function over form.
    - rhizome 8y ago
      By "consistency" I mean that its design is evolutionary and hasn't radically changed since the beginning. http://time.com/11740/facebook-10-year-anniversary-interfaces/ http://time.com/11740/facebook-10-year-anniversary-interface...
ovao 8y ago
I don't believe it's a ploy. I think John's just doing what he feels to be the right thing given that he is — at least to the audience he writes to — a high-ranking employee of Facebook. I couldn't even tell you if he even thought that deeply about it. He possibly just thought "I can just write what I need to here, this works" and immediately considered it a solved problem.

astrodust 8y ago

It's probably because as a designer Facebook is fucking ugly and at least Medium has decent typography.

rhizome 8y ago
I suspect the function of design at FB is oriented more toward consistency than beauty.
- astrodust 8y ago
  If by "consistency" you mean "function over form" then sure. It's basically brutalist.
  - peterwwillis 8y ago
    If a website's aesthetics were important to Facebook's users they never would have joined. http://www.businessinsider.com/what-facebook-used-to-look-like-2014-2#this-is-what-a-facebook-group-page-looked-like-in-2005-2 http://www.businessinsider.com/what-facebook-used-to-look-li...
    - astrodust 8y ago
      Like Craigslist, people don't really have a choice with Facebook. You either use it, as ugly as it is, or don't.
      - peterwwillis 8y ago
        I'm not sure what you mean. You mean they don't have a choice in the design? Because there were plenty of alternatives (MySpace). Facebook just provided a better experience.
        astrodust 8y ago
        Facebook's software might be better, their uptake was better, but that doesn't mean their site is more visually appealing. It just means it's more effective. Function over form.
  - rhizome 8y ago
    By "consistency" I mean that its design is evolutionary and hasn't radically changed since the beginning. http://time.com/11740/facebook-10-year-anniversary-interfaces/ http://time.com/11740/facebook-10-year-anniversary-interface...

ovao 8y ago

I don't believe it's a ploy. I think John's just doing what he feels to be the right thing given that he is — at least to the audience he writes to — a high-ranking employee of Facebook. I couldn't even tell you if he even thought that deeply about it. He possibly just thought "I can just write what I need to here, this works" and immediately considered it a solved problem.