Oh boy, the "New Facebook" that you've been hearing nothing about is here. What's different about New Facebook? Well, for one thing, it's certainly wider! And your wall posts are outlined in gray. But apparently there are other differences, and the madman behind this creation has explained them all in his Facebook blog:

• The Publisher lets you put content on your own Wall. Like writing on your own Wall, but now it's called The Publisher.

• Size matters: You can adjust the size of things on your profile, "to promote the things you care about most, and demote the stories you don't find as interesting."

• Your own Wall will stalk you. "The Wall now surfaces the most recent and relevant information—in the form of posts of stories—about you. We believe that having a constant stream of information, or 'feed' is the most effective way to learn about and keep up with friends."

Facebook loyalists have been rallying to the defense of New Facebook, pointing out that the new photo browsing function is easier to use. But go see for yourself, and then choose a side, for the question of New Facebook allegiance is surely the defining one of our generation.

UPDATE: More terror lies ahead after the jump.

While most of you are probably relieved to have exited Columbia's campus, free of Butler and Lerner for an entire summer, there's an entire generation of earnest young people who just can't wait for August. They were born in 1990, their SATs were probably out of 48,000, and we're calling them the Terrible 12s.

Every now and then Bwog likes to take a look at their Facebook activities, and oh what a bevy of activity there's been! A certain hyper-social member of the the Columbia - Class of 2012 group who calls himself "Stephan" has already volunteered his Carman room for a party the first night of Orientation, giving ResLife nearly three months to prepare for the task of breaking up the party.

Within another group, this one dedicated to the good folk of Carman, "Stephan", who Bwog can only hope is an English major, again advertises his fete by announcing: "we r throwin da sickest party to get the year started rite.... Carman the sexyest dorm house ever.... we're goin show these other dorms who runs shit..."

Other burning questions amongst the Terrible 12s on the "2012" group include marijuana (answer, according to one: "DO IT, DUH.") and the virtues of their own individuality ("I beat all the varsity girls [but a couple] on the crew team on my erg score [rowing machines, for those who aren't familiar with ergs] my freshman year.")

Looking forward to meeting you, 12s! See you at Stephan's party.

It's a dark day today on your Facebook, where dozens of quasi-acquaintances and people you hate could be trying to communicate with you via the gruesome new Facebook Chat.

The new buddy list type apparatus enables Facebookers to see those who are simultaneously online doing some stalking, picture uploading, friend-deleting and the like.

Some details, via CNN:

"Facebook Chat only allows for one-to-one conversations. Users will be able to view recent conversations, but the chats won't be logged permanently, and users will be able to clear that chat history any time.

Facebook users will also have the option of keeping the conversation on the bottom of the screen or creating a pop-up window they can move. A chat window will also display Mini-Feed stories, which are notices concerning other friends' Facebook activities."

The day that the frequenters of collegeconfidential.com live and die by has finally arrived, as Columbia's admissions letters to the class of 2012 have officially been mailed out, and online decisions were posted as of 5:05 p.m. last night. Amidst a careful navigation of the daily chaos that is the post-CC or Lit Hum reunions of friends that one might see daily in the lobby of Hamilton Hall, this bwogger witnessed yesterday Columbia's Director of Admissions Jessica Marinaccio finally at ease, with arms crossed and an unmistakeable cheshire grin on her face, as she towered over myriad hand trucks and several bins of yellow envelopes (looks like they are going with DHL this year) being hauled by burly Columbia athletes into the Admissions Office. These letters of admission it seems were to undergo a final inspection before being mailed out to nervous pre-frosh nationwide first thing this morning.

"The new Friends page lets you create named lists of friends that you can use to organize your relationships whichever way works best for you."

Differentiate, categorize, control. Finding your HS Crushes' current addresses and phone numbers has never been easier. Don't sulk, stalk!

Also: "Weird Peeps"? Redundant, no?

2012's Facebook half-life began with Simon H.'s creation of "Columbia — Class of 2012." Early decision applicants were notified online of their acceptance at 5pm, and by 7pm, the group's ranks had reached 50. Mere days later, the Facebook group is brimming with 276 members—including one confused Brown 2012 pre-frosh who is "not sure if we are rivals or not." Proud papa Simon H. has even provided a chronological history of the group's membership:

Dec 11. 6 members
Dec 12. 84 members
Dec 13. 170 members
Dec 14. 216 members
Dec 16. 271 members

Hot topics like senioritis ("B's are the new A's," insists Kyle M.) and the swim test—Harrison S. prefers doggie paddle and prefers that you know it—fill the group's Wall. Discussions about dorms and drinking are good places to spot the group's early alpha males and females. Natassia M. states that "Carman sounds like a plan" and is echoed with rallying cries of agreement and disbelief: "Carman sucks, theres throwup and shit everywhere, all the girls and ugly and the ra's are the biggest assholes everywher," maintained Dhruv V., who himself is actually CC '11. Dhruv, a wizened elder and Furnald devotee is a major presence amongst 2012's blossoming (and depressing) cyber-society.

Marginal topics like "dorms" and "academics" aside, one group of 12s wants to know: "Who says Ivy Leaguers don't party hard?!?!?" Probably the same people who say Ivy Leaguers can punctuate!!11!eleventyone!1

The "The Columbia University Class of 2012 is Ready to Party" has a predictable agenda. "We should all meet up sometime before august... and party :) " suggests Carolyn M.

But no one could accuse the hard-partying 12s of not being efficient: To wit, they have an email address of the most official capacity: readytoparty@2012.com. You know, to fake arrange the fake partying electronically.

UPDATE 12/17: The end... it's near!

- JNW

Despite Zuckerberg's victory earlier today with the cancellation of the BandW Bwog Facebook profile, the Blue and White/the Bwog has triumphantly returned to Zuckerberg's fiefdom in the guise of Verily Veritas. Befriend away, good soldiers.

UPDATE 11:15 PM: Zuckerberg's empire strikes back! Veritas killed in battle! Bwog is gathering its forces, and storm clouds are setting in. The time has come for the dominion of men! A day may come when the courage of men fails, when we forsake our friends and break all bonds of fellowship, but it is not this day. An hour of woes and shattered shields, when the age of men comes crashing down! But it is not this day! This day we fight!

OK not really. But LOTR looks almost fitting at 11:30 on a Sunday.

Facebook has long deleted facebook personalities that probably actually don't exist. It started with Alexander Hamilton, and moved on to Barack Obama (although he has his own legit profile now anyway). But now, they've killed someone much closer to home: the lovely and charming BandW Bwog, who had the pleasure of becoming friends with many of you in its two-week existence. A quick search reveals that Inside New York and even the well-connected CU Arts have also been disappeared.

It's a dangerous world out there for web-based beings. They can't change who they are!

So you thought the Facebook apps were bad.

Now Facebook has this nifty little feature where non-members and search engines can access your Facebook too! In technical terms, your public search listing is indexed by external search engines (Google, Yahoo, MSN, etc.).

Now alongside your high school cross-country race times, curious minds can also see that lovely profile picture and your list of friends. Then, a click will allow them to message you. It's only weird when grandma starts messaging you on Facebook.

Or you can just go to your privacy settings and turn the feature off.

Zach van Schouwen tips off Bwog on a Facebook revelation:

Top Movies in the Columbia Network
1. Fight Club
2. Love Actually
3. Zoolander
4. The Big Lebowski
5. Shawshank Redemption

All pretty standard, except for number 2. What, was Four Weddings and a Funeral too edgy?

Tipster Kendall Barnes spotted this on Facebook Marketplace for York, England, where she is currently studying abroad.

In other crazy foreigner news, we got this odd message from a would-be 2014-er:

In which Bwog contributor CML breaks down Facebook's flashy new features, for those of us too scared to log on since they arrived on the feed.

While my brain has languished thousands of miles away from Columbia, Mark Zuckerberg and his henchmen have been busy, busy bees. Over the past two weeks, I've watched assiduously as Facebook has undergone a great transformation, having installed a platform that enables CS-savvy users to add their own applications to the site. The explosion in possibilities leaves me yearning for its bygone days of narrow scope, even though I got my account barely more than a year ago.

Whether this Zuckerbergian gambit is intended to take over the lives of the 25-and-under set, or if it's merely a plot to fatten the proverbial cow/website before leading it to the slaughterhouse/IPO, remains to be seen. Meanwhile, the array of possible new accoutrements can get overwhelming. Without further ado, an overview of some of the best, the worst, and the loudest bells and whistles:

Marketplace: Undoubtedly the most ambitious and most official of the additions, Marketplace is basically Facebook's version of Craigslist. If you wish to hawk your wares or find employees, you can place an ad for free in one of five distinct categories (For Sale, Housing, Jobs, Other, and Free Stuff); if you wish to find wares to buy or find employment yourself, you can place an ad for free in one of four distinct categories (Item Wanted, Housing Wanted, Looking for Work, Other Wanted). Restrictions are lax enough to the extent that I was able to post the above ad in "Jobs" under "Writing/Editing" [picture of bwog sycophant ad], but traffic is stagnant enough in "Jobs" and other categories that I felt bad about leaving it up. Still, "For Sale" is a far more convenient way of passing off your old cursed Orgo textbook to some poor bastard than posting fliers around campus, although still far inferior to the late trading site Dogears.net.

RATING: Zuckerfabulous

Curious about the students who will swarm our hallowed halls come September? You know, the most recent "smartest class ever"? Never fear-- staffer Lucy Tang wades into the muck so you don't have to. Her report:

If you thought the class of 2010 was annoying with their Myspace groups, discussion threads that provided too much information about various (non)existent sex lives, endless facebook groups that multiplied overnight, and random friend requests-- which all resulted in the retaliatory group "Class of 2010 PLEASE calm down... you're not even here yet!"-- then you're going to love the class of 2011.

Their main facebook group already boasts 1,138 members, 357 photos, 353 discussion posts, and an overabundance of eagerness and naivete. We all remember the feeling of excitement and fear before coming to school, but what did people do before facebook existed? Maybe they kept their thoughts inside and made friends face to face orientation week and in classes? Hm?

Brace yourself for a quick overview of the groups that have sprouted up: