Facebook redesigns mobile profiles and begins testing video profile pictures

Profiles, the original beating heart of Facebook, were pushed to the side in 2006 by the more addictive News Feed. But profiles remain a tremendously popular part of the social network — they are viewed a cumulative 4 billion times a day, the company says. In recent years, Facebook has been cautious about modifying the way they look and feel. But today profiles are getting a significant redesign — and the result is a page that's less about what you want to share, and more about what your friends want to see.

The new profile, which was first spotted in the wild this summer, puts a large profile photo front and center. The biggest departure from the current product, which is now in testing: looping "profile videos" of up to seven seconds that add a new dimension to the design. It's a big thing that sounds like a small thing, and it's big because for the first time, Facebook is asking users to get creative with their profiles.

LOOPING PROFILE VIDEOS OF UP TO SEVEN SECONDS ADD A NEW DIMENSION

Facebook employees have been making profile videos for a while, and many of them are disarmingly cute: faces surrounded by puppies, peering through bushes, or having their hair blown back by a ridiculous fan. Video profiles aren't required — you can stick with a static image — but I expect that they'll become enormously popular, assuming they become available to everyone. (The videos are now being tested among small groups in the United States and the United Kingdom.)