Every 10 months or so, my Facebook wall is chock-full of people whom I rarely even have personal interaction with, griping and moaning about the new layout design. I usually keep quiet about these changes, whether or not I agree with them.

For the first time this morning, I woke up and was excited about what Facebook has done to its UI.

While some complain that more features = the Myspace effect (too much confusion/run away scared), I think these new features actually allow for a more personalized and organized experience.

Taking hints from Google+ and Twitter, Facebook has added its own spin on what it originally set in motion nearly a decade ago.

I like the fact that Facebook has broken stories down into three sections:

Real Time (scroll-bar)

Recent Stories (atop the homepage)

And Top Stories (below Recent Stories)

I think Facebook’s birthday feature is one of its best. Now I can wish my favorite virtual friend a happy birthday right from the home screen without actually navigating to his or her profile. Facebook also gives me a clean list where all those who’ve gotten the HBD are marked off.

Facebook now also remembers the last time you logged on and culminates all the recent ‘Top Stories’ to share with you the next time you enter its kingdom before new Recent Stories start to populate your home page.

The Smart List feature is what Facebook was missing, that G+ was thriving in. Allowing you to share with particular groups of people, Facebook lets users not only decide what messages go where, but also organizes friends. Based on algorithms and related friends, Facebook makes reasonable suggestions as to who should go where. I’ve noticed that when I exit a particular list after burning through all my suggestions and then re-enter it, more suggestions are made available. Even more, 90 percent of the time they are good suggestions.

The Subscribe feature on Facebook is where Facebook has taken a step into Twitter’s pool. By allowing public status updates to be viewed by non-friends who choose to Subscribe to a user, one can be heard and not have to worry about accepting thousands of people into one’s Facebook circle. This allows for less hurt-feelings and a cleaner home page. Users can also choose whether to Subscribe to All Updates, Most Updates (normal), or Important Updates.

Allowing Subscribing does not allow analytics, so if you were into that, I would recommend staying with your regular Page and not taking the leap. Businesses are not allowed to use the Subscribe feature, so don’t worry about switching everything over if you started to panic, Mr. SMB. Allowing subscription is also a far leap in privacy, which is why I think the Subscribe button will mostly be used by those who want to take Twitter’s small-share platform to a new height and celebrities. 

Personally, my Facebook page will remain private. Users who would like to follow my design and skateboard-related articles and posts can follow me on Twitter or Google+, where public information is the status quo.

At least I can now have a more organized experience online and choose which stories are relevant to whom, using a tool I’ve been using for eight years and not having to enter the dull and constantly decaying Google+

Bravo, Facebook—I applaud you for taking the best of the Web and making it your own.