Facebook gets another facelift

Starting last Friday, Feb 4, social networking service Facebook rolled out a new user-interface to some 80 million users, with the rest of the 320 million users to follow within the next few days. From the screenshots seen here, the new layout aims to present more information on the user's homepage compared to the previous design, and messages can be sent without navigating away from the homepage. Overall, the redesign aims to improve navigation and reduce click-throughs using the left sidebar menu, while a bigger search box is now placed prominently on the top left-hand side.

Unsurprisingly, the new redesign has been met with a mixed response from users who either hate it or like it, with the former group much more vocal about their opinion. This is nothing new to Facebook, which has rolled out radical redesigns before only to be bombarded by negative criticism from "We hate Facebook's new design" user groups that didn't change anything.

Facebook users would be wise to know that it's Mark Zuckerberg's world; we just live in it.

GQ UK offers chance to live in Norman Mailer's house

The British edition of men's magazine GQ last week launched a non-fiction competition for students with a prize money of £1,000 and the chance to live at Norman Mailer's residence -- now a writers' centre -- in Provincetown, Massachusetts, USA. The competition is open to all undergraduates and post-graduates at UK universities who are over 18. The award is jointly organised by the magazine and the Norman Mailer Writers Colony, an educational centre based at the writer's home.

"We at GQ believe, as do our friends at the Norman Mailer Writers' Colony, that there will always be a need and a place for brilliant narrative, non-fiction, whether that's journalism, criticism or memoir," said GQ editor Dylan Jones at the competition's launch ceremony at The Arts Club in London.

Entries of between 2,000 and 4,000 words must be sent to  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it by May 1, 2010.

Mailer (1923 – 2007) was one of the pioneers of the controversial New Journalism movement, in which literary techniques used in fiction was fused with traditional journalism. Among the books he wrote include Armies of The Night and The Executioner's Song. His first book, The Naked and The Dead, chronicled his experience of serving in the US Army under the 112th Calvary that was stationed in the Philippines. Despite serving in the army, he later became a proponent of the anti-Vietnam war movement in the '60s through his essays and books.

During his lifetime, Mailer led a colourful life, having married six times, head-butted Gore Vidal, co-founded The Village Voice, and twice won the Pulitzer Prize.

Is blogging becoming uncool among teens?

Yes, says a study conducted by US-based Pew Research Center on Social Media and Young Adults. The study found that since 2006, blogging among teenagers had declined from 28% to 14%, while among young adults aged 18 to 29 years old, the figure has dropped from 24% to 15%. Of those above 30 years old, only 11% own a personal blog, while 14% of them maintain a personal website.

While the blog may be losing its appeal, social networking services like Facebook and Twitter are becoming increasingly popular amongst teenagers as a means of communicating. The study found that 86% of social networking teens post comments to a friend's page or wall on a social network site, while 83% post comments on friends' photos posted to an online social network.

The study also found that teenagers and adults no longer access the Internet solely from a computer or laptop, but also mobile phones or game consoles. About half the 18-29 year olds surveyed have accessed the Internet wirelessly on a laptop (55%) or on a cell phone (55%), while 28% of the same age group have accessed the Internet wirelessly on another device such as an e-book reader or gaming device.

For the full report, visit the Pew Research Center here.

The Pew Research Center is a non-profit organisation that produces reports exploring the impact of the Internet on families, communities, work and home, daily life, education, health care, and civic and political life.