Facebook's New Profile Pics, Just Like Google+

By Barbara E. Hernandez

| Monday, Apr 16, 2012 | Updated 1:51 PM PDT

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Google+ got an entirely new look on Wednesday, April 11.

If Facebook has nothing to fear from Google+, why is it copying the fledgling social network?

Only a few days after Google+ launched a redesign on April 11, Facebook started making its own profile pictures bigger, according to ZDNet.

I contacted Facebook about this tweak and received a prompt reply. “I can confirm we’ve increased the size of profile photos,” a Facebook spokesperson said in a statement. . . .Previously, a profile picture measured 130 x 125 pixels. Now, Facebook’s profile pictures measure 166 x 160 pixels.

Previously, a profile photo was the size of postage stamp in front of one's panoramic cover. Now the profile photo is about the size of -- well, a very large postage stamp. The newly-sized profile photos haven't made it to the Facebook Pages yet, though. Sure it's a subtle change, but a change made because Google+ did it first.

It's not the first time Facebook has copied Google+, and it's obvious Google+ took a lot of ideas from Facebook for its new design. So can we all agree that stealing innovation is the sincerest form of flattery?