Can you imagine getting a facelift and then having virtually everyone in your world walk up to you and say things like, “I hate it!” and “WTF? You’re so ugly now!” Well that’s basically what’s going on in response to Facebook’s recent launch of its new design. The member feedback has been overwhelmingly negative. I’ll go one step further and say most members appear to be downright pissed off.

I think Facebook’s light switch approach to the change is what sent so many people off the deep end. I attribute this to the “Boiled Frog Effect” — the change was too much and too fast for most people. As a result there has been a tremendous backlash. I have to admit that my visceral response was not positive but the new design has grown on me over the last few days to the point where I am now a rabid fan.

If these upset peeps would look at a big part of Facebook’s motivation it might help them appreciate the reason for the change. According to Facebook’s CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, the company wanted to take the stale ”Encyclopedia interface” that was just a laundry list of static info on people and bring it to life by presenting dynamic news and content about members and their friends. I think this is a brilliant idea since it’s the live aspect of Facebook that I love versus the same old content that never changes on someone’s profile. I mean how many times does someone want to be reminded that I went to Westwood High School. Ummmm…probably once and in some cases never.

Aside from the obvious layout changes, the two biggest changes that I think members will eventually fall in love with are to the Home Page/News Feed and Mini-Feed. Now, by providing such a robust, enhanced News Feed of what my friends are up to on my Home Page I don’t need to go “home page hopping” — from friend to friend — to try to keep track what’s new in their world. The News Feed is broken out by tabs — Top Stories, Status Updates, Photos & Posted Items” — which really streamlines the content nicely. And the change to the Mini-Feed is like going from black and white to color. The content is richer and the experience much more satisfying. The new Mini-Feed allows me to drill down on a friend and gives me a deeper, immersed experience of what they are up to at that moment in time.

I think Facebook did the right thing by throwing its membership in the pool all at once and expecting them to learn to swim. There are always a group of people that whine with change and then learn to adapt and love. These are the same people who whined when cable TV first launched because they couldn’t figure out how to operate the remote. For those pussies who absolutely can’t adapt to the new design and learn to do the dog paddle, they can grab a life preserver and click on the ”Back to the old Facebook” link in the upper right hand corner of the page. Wait I think I just called my 82-year-old aunt on the Cape a pussy. Sorry Penny! For the people who choose to go back to the old Facebook, I hope you look good in your perm, enjoy your eight-track tapes, have fun with your pet rock and don’t have any trouble finding your keys in your fanny pack.

And if you think your life just got complicated because of the change you should step into my shoes. As the Facebook support person for my family reunion group, I now have a dozen Italians calling me up and asking me to not only justify the changes (as if they were my decision), I need to walk them off the ledge by giving them step- by-step direction on how to find the “Back to old Facebook” link.

What do you think of Facebook’s new design?