It is interesting to note the similarities between Facebook's homepage design and that of Last.fm. Although it seems impossible to know which came first, it is interesting to compare these two sites against each other. Both include tabs across the top and down the right side in order to help the user navigate through the site. The Recently Listened Tracks feed resembles the News Feed shown by Facebook. Much like profile pictures are displayed on Facebook to the right of their respective bullet in the feed, Recently Played Tracks display the artist's picture as well. There are time stamps on each individual post as well, and other infomation is displayed in boxes to the right. It could be a mere coincidence that both of these sites went with this layout. It could also just be the best possible layout for either, but I believe it's more than that. By using similar layouts, each site helps the other out. If someone is a Facebook user who makes a Last.fm account, they will find it easier to use because of the similarities between the two. The navigational buttons, although different colors from each site, are both contrasted against white backgrounds. They are located in similar areas, and can help a user find their way around a site without having to look too far. The first place a Facebook user is going to look for a navigational button is the top of the page, and when they go to Last.fm, they will find that the first place to look is the right place.
Both sites place their search bars in the same area. Their overall coloring is even similar. Like Facebook contrasts blue and white, Last.fm uses red and white. Both place their logos in the upper right corner, and their headers only contain links to various parts of the site.
Other social networking sites have similar layouts, but not quite. For example, Myspace shows tabs along the top as well, with a search bar located in the top right corner.
It also centers its feeds, but rather than condensing them, like Facebook, it seperates each individual type of feed. Myspace contrasts against Facebook and Last.fm vividly. The user can choose the coloring of everything from their homepage to their profile. They can decide the layout and font colors. Every individual details can be changed through code on Myspace, but users on Last.fm and Facebook do not have these options. What does that mean about Last.fm and Facebook's message to their users?
Why doesn't Last.fm want you to customize every detail of your profile? For this alone--Last.fm isn't about the individual expressing themselves visually. Rather, this is about the music alone. When the user can't change the look of their profile from their friends, viewers focus on the content rather than the design. Music is the focus of Last.fm, not your favorite color. Last.fm isn't meant to aggregate every bit of information about the user, but rather, specific bits of knowledge pertaining to music alone. Last.fm isn't about finding a new boyfriend or best friend. It is not a social networking site for finding long lost classmates and peers. Last.fm is about finding your new favorite band, which is easier to do when the website's software says, "Here. This is what you like based on what you listen to..."
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