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"Earlier this week, Facebook promised a number of changes to appease user concerns about the latest homepage re-design.  Users have been noticing these improvements being pushed live to their homepage over the last day or so, and this morning, I finally got them enabled on my account.\nAfter doing a bit of tweaking, I\u2019m definitely enjoying my Facebook homepage more than I was the past couple weeks with version 1 of the redesign.  I thought I\u2019d share with you a few of these tweaks - designed primarily to reduce information overload - so you can try them on your own account, unless of course you\u2019re happy with the new, new Facebook as-is.\nCustom Friend Lists\nThis problem probably only applies to those of us that add hundreds of friends, but let\u2019s face it, if you\u2019re reading this article, that\u2019s probably you!  I\u2019ve always used Facebook\u2019s custom friend lists, but now, since they\u2019re front and center, it\u2019s time to really take advantage of them.  \nWhat I\u2019ve done is create lists for \u201CPeople I Know\u201D (folks I could actually identify if I ran into them walking down the street), as well as \u201CColleagues,\u201D \u201CClose Friends,\u201D and \u201CHigh School,\u201D which, should be self-explanatory.  You can create new lists from the \u201CCreate\u201D link at the bottom of your list of friend groups on the left side of the Facebook homepage.\n\n\n\n\nOne thing you can do \u2013 which isn\u2019t immediately obvious, is make any of these groups your default, so it\u2019s what comes up every time you open Facebook.  To do that, just drag the list you want as default to the top of the list of groups on the left of your homepage.  \nIf you don\u2019t do this, Facebook will just default to \u201CNews Feed,\u201D which shows updates from everyone you\u2019re friends with.\nTweaking These Lists\nWith the newest rollout, Facebook has also made it easy to tweak these lists at any time.  To do so, just click the little icon next to the Group name, select the list you\u2019d like to add someone to, and then start typing in their name.  Facebook auto-detects who you might be trying to add.  You can do all of this without leaving the page.\nHiding Application Notifications\nOne common complaint with the new Facebook was the influx of information from third-party apps like Flickr, YouTube, and Last.fm, ala Friendfeed.  With the homepage improvements, you can now hide not only people from your feed, but specific application alerts as well.\nIn this example, I\u2019ve decided to hide alerts from Last.fm, so I no longer see the songs that my friends are loving:\n\n\n\n\nOther Improvements\nFacebook has also moved \u201CRequests\u201D back to the top right of your homepage.  This creates more real estate for friend updates above the fold, which is pretty nice once you\u2019ve tweaked the other settings.\n\n\n\n\nStill Missing\nWhat\u2019s still missing from my homepage are updates featuring photos that my friends have been tagged in (though some of these show up in \"Highlights\" on the right), as well as the promised \u201Clive updating\u201D that will restore the functionality people miss from the former Live Feed feature.  These are both in the works and expected to launch in the next few weeks.\nIs the Revolt Over?\nFrankly, once all of these changes are implemented, we\u2019re not that far from what Facebook was just a few weeks ago, minus a few stories about changes to profile data like relationship status or a new favorite band, new friends of friends, and some application updates.  Does that make Facebook less interesting?  In my opinion, it does a bit, but I also think as more people catch onto the ways they can improve the experience with the tips above, they\u2019ll enjoy Facebook more than ever.  \nYour Thoughts?\nLet us know what you think of the latest improvements in the comments."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://mashable.com/2009/03/27/facebook-homepage-tips/>