Facebook is removing Boxes
From Facebook:
Going forward (in the short term) application tabs will be the only way applications can integrate into profiles and Facebook Pages. We will remove profile boxes, application info sections, and the Boxes tab. We are exploring additional ways to enable developers to integrate into profiles and Pages.
Yes, Facebook is planning on removing support for boxes that sit on Pages and User Profiles. They updated the Roadmap on December 3rd 2009 and plan to have it in place before the end of the year or early 2010. Merry Christmas, eh?
Here is why we like boxes: they are small, they deliver bite-sized information, and they are unobtrusive. Stuff I Like is a great widget because we show just 5 things that a user likes. We don’t need a full canvas page or a full Tab to display this information to a user’s friend. Instead, we package it in a neat box and place it on the user’s profile. We want to augment that profile’s information and the box approach allows us to do that. We respect the user’s profile and only add meaningful content that the user has selected.
Removing boxes is a drastic change. This means that within the context of Facebook, the only place for users to have exposure to your application without going to a canvas page is to use the tab feature. In our experience, users know how tabs work but do not generally navigate through them. Application developers must redevelop their application to fit in a tab or become invisible.
Users are in a tough position too. Assuming that all application adopt the Tab approach, they will still have to chose which tabs to feature at the top of their page. There isn’t much room on a user profile for tabs so the majority of applications will become even more buried.
What is also interesting is that there is no “Add To Tab” button like there is for the boxes functionality. This feature is on their road map but it appears to be timed for after the boxes removal takes place.
Complicating the fact is that the majority of users will never read this post or Facebook’s Roadmap. This change will catch most people off guard. One day, all of their content will be stripped from their page with little notice given.
All of the comes just days after Facebook re-engineered the feed stories to support only one image. It seems clear that they are trying to homogenize all content across their site. I understand not wanting to look like MySpace did 4 years ago but users value the personalization aspect of the site. With all feed stories now the same and with all boxes about to be removed from the profile, not much will be left to customize. I don’t know how users will react to it.
This cannot simply be a reaction to spamming applications. Facebook has done a good job cracking down on spam applications and hiding the feed stories they publish. Boxes never have really presented a means for spam as Flash cannot be loaded without user initiation and the input is sanitized to prevent pop ups and other annoying tricks. Users have to proactively add a box to their profile so consequently, boxes have been relatively safe for Facebook.
Brands are in a similar position. Best Buy, for example, relies on several boxes on their fan page to deliver content to their community. While they and most other brands use Tabs to add additional functionality, losing a communication channel is still frustrating.
So what does a brand do? Contact us and we can help you come up with a long term strategy that utilizes the new Facebook changes as well as diversifies your message across multiple platforms.
More information is on the Facebook Roadmap and from the Profile Page Wiki.
