I think connect is a solid step in the right direction, but the applications have to go.
Your thoughts?
When apps were demoted to a 2nd tab, and access control became "all or nothing", I basically stopped using them.
Through regular redesigns, they've slowly been clawing their way back to decency. The twitterification' that has banished apps from your wall page was a nice step, but the further emphasis on the news feed (which I don't use, but others seem to intensely) makes the quiz bullshit prominent.
From their actions, the people in charge at Facebook seem to know how much apps have shit all over them. I think they'll continue to recover from it.
The latest concern is all those nasty ads on Facebook.
http://www.allfacebook.com/2009/07/facebook-ad-endorsements/
After the last major redesign, I found and continue find the enhanced emphasis on graphics -- e.g. larger profile thumbnails and whatnot -- distracting; I find it isn't as easy to quickly scan the page.
I've idly thought a time or two of using a filter to block the thumbnail images. This thread made me think to try simply blocking all images. Result: A page much easier for me to scan. And while the quiz results are still there, their annoying graphics are not.
Mind you, I like seeing my friends published photos, and sometimes a friendly profile thumbnail cheers me up. But the rest is mostly visual busy-ness that slows me down.
As for the personal images in ad's, there's a way to effectively opt out of that, now. I believe it was mentioned here on HN. In Facebook, it's under
Settings / Privacy / News Feed and Wall / Facebook Ads
Set the value of Appearance in Facebook Ads to "No one".