This is not to say that there are not a lot of great ways to personalize a Facebook page. One of the advantages of Facebook is the availability of externally developed applications for members to enjoy and send to others. For example, the "Flair" application shows a graphic of a little corkboard and then presents the user with a selection of "buttons" – images that can be put on the board with messages ranging from political slogans to silly sayings like "I'm not as random as you think I salad." These buttons can be arranged on the corkboard and sent as "gifts" to other Facebook users. It is also easy to created original "Flair" buttons as well.
Another graphic way to customize a Facebook page is with the Expressions application, which has a series of vertical banners with quotes, movie logos, and other pictures that users may enjoy. New images are created and added to the Expressions library, and the Facebook members can be notified about it and alternate what image is shown on their profile.
Having these applications and others displayed on the profile page of each user is one of the ways that Facebook allows a measure of personalization. The profile page itself is made up of many different elements, some of which are fixed in place but many of which can be moved. The two applications described above are able to be moved into many places on the profile page, and that constitutes a measure of control over the viewer's environment if not actually being Facebook backgrounds.
The top of the profile shows an individual's picture, and that is also completely customizable. In fact, Facebook differs from many other sites in that there is an unlimited number of photo uploads for users (though individual albums are limited to 60 pictures each).
In the end, the lesson taught by Facebook's popularity in spite of limited flexibility is that if there is a quality interface, the users will come, have fun, and make Facebook number one in social networking.
