Facebook has this week rolled out a new design for its settings on mobile, which may or may not be less confusing depending on your preferences.
As Techcrunch points out, the last time Facebook decided to change the way we accessed its settings (back in 2010) we got a dedicated Privacy Settings category. That has now gone. Instead, we’ve got six new categories called Account, Preferences, Audience and Visibility, Permissions, Your Information, and Community Standards and Legal Policies.
All of the available privacy settings are scattered throughout those categories, meaning users have to go on a treasure hunt to ensure they are maintaining a level of privacy they are happy with on the social network. The Privacy Check tool features more prominently after the redesign, but the automatic check may not be enough to put your mind at rest.
As to why Facebook decided to implement this redesign, it’s based on research that found we shouldn’t be made to “think too hard about where to start” when managing settings. The reason the privacy category has gone is because “using more specific and descriptive names makes settings easier to find.” I’d assume a category called “Privacy” would count as specific and descriptive, but apparently not.
A number of standalone settings have also changed their location, for example, the News Feed setting is now found in the Preferences category. So it’s worth taking a few minutes to navigate through each category and ensure everything is set how you would want it to be. Facebook rolled out the updated design to Android, iOS, mobile web, and FB Lite users yesterday, so it should be visible to everyone today.
