In a couple days, Facebook is going to begin rolling out new features to user profiles. They released a statement yesterday that they will be rolling out new features over the coming weeks. According to Facebook:

The improved profile design helps better align the goals of application developers with the principles of the Platform ecosystem by:

* Helping users communicate and share information more efficiently
* Generating more meaningful activity
* Providing valuable information to users
* Increasing user trust

Applications that further these objectives will be more successful and achieve greater usage. We encourage application developers to focus on building applications that facilitate communication, generate meaningful activity, and increase users’ trust.

I am confident that this will be much welcomed news from developers after a series of restrictive moves by Facebook that limited application virality. Facebook will need to keep developers happy if they wish to remain the leading platform among social networks. Facebook will provide developers with a number of new integration points but emphasizes that “Applications that use these tools in a way that users find valuable and meaningful will find success. However, some challenges could lie ahead for those applications that don’t provide value and meaning for users.”

Consider this a warning of even more aggressive moves to block spam. This will be welcomed news to all the users that are getting fed up with all the “annoying” application requests. I look forward to seeing what Facebook has up their sleeve later this week!