Please Reveal Even More

Dissecting the new Facebook: Forget the poke craze, where'd you put my box?

Being that it's a work Monday, you've perused the new Facebook — probably for the last three hours.

The site's been dissected for its emphasis on visual connections, prominent placement of photos and its new layout, which places personal information like employment and educational history front and center. 60 Minutes declared the facelift is more of a design change than a privacy change. The Washington Post noted that the section shuffling entices users to add still more information about themselves.

Especially of note is that instead of sending friends to your info tab to see what you're up to, the new profile page design starts by reducing you to a handful of bullet points. Where you live; where you work; your educational history; relationship status; whether you smoke or have a passport are displayed in quick succession at the tippy top. (I made those last two up, but they wouldn't be too out of place).

The new friend pages and photo set-up are all well and good, too, but I want to know what they did with my box. Gone is that little spot formerly underneath your profile picture that was begging for such delectably random quips as "without second chances, we wouldn't have refried beans," "I live to dougie," and, if you're awful, this:

(¯`•.•´¯) (¯`•.•´¯)
*`•.¸(¯`•.•´¯)¸.•´
¤ º° ¤`•.¸.•´ ¤ °º

In its stead, it appears that the forgotten Poke button has regained prominence, undoubtedly setting off a tidal wave of inter-office flirtations.

Tell us: what do you think about the new design? Have you opted in?

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Thanks, Queen Bey

Pop icon Beyoncé donates $100,000 to University of Houston Law School

Photo by Erza Shaw Getty Images

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Pop megastar Beyoncé Knowles-Carter has donated $100,000 to the University of Houston Law Center Criminal Justice Clinic through her BeyGOOD Foundation. The gift will allow the clinic to hire fill-time faculty to head it, benefiting the students who study there.

“I am delighted that the BeyGOOD Foundation has made this very generous gift to the UH Law Center,” said Leonard Baynes, dean of the UH Law Center. “Not only will this funding help establish a full-time criminal justice clinic that provides pro bono legal services in our community, but it will also supercharge our already excellent criminal law and justice programming.”

The clinic is one of nine at UHLC. It helps students learn to navigate the criminal justice system, especially on behalf of clients that are underserved by skilled attorneys. People of color are affected disproportionately by a lack of good, ethical representation.

Beyoncé, the most decorated artist in Grammy history and easily the biggest musical star native to Houston, has a long history of advocating for criminal justice reform. She was a staunch supporter of the police reform following the deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, asking law enforcement to “stop killing us” in a web post. In 2020, she penned an open letter to the Kentucky attorney general asking for justice in the death of Breonna Taylor.

Through her BeyGOOD Foundation, established in 2013, Beyoncé has focused mostly on expanding the prospects of Black-owned business and offering education opportunities to students. Forwarding the cause of legal representation in Texas while also helping out marginalized communities compliments her other philanthropic work.

“At UH Law, we envision a legal profession where ‘everyone has the opportunity to prosper,’ as BeyGOOD envisions, and we will achieve this vision by providing access to strong and effective legal representation in criminal proceedings,” Baynes said. “And together, through this gift, the BeyGOOD Foundation and UHLC will shepherd the next generation of criminal justice attorneys in the city of Houston, the state of Texas and the nation.”