I wouldn't mind it if they had the interests and the profile text in the big left-hand bar and the friends lists in the smaller right-hand bar, but this way round is silly.

Never mind; going by their past performance, they'll implement it, act bewildered and hurt at the outcry, and then a couple of months down the line they'll bring in the opt-out that should have been available from the start.

I agree with you entirely about the directory search, but you knew that.