The writing was on the Facebook wall: another sweeping layout change was in the works, and not even a server-crashing-scale freight train could stop it. But honestly, who didn’t see this coming?

The introduction of the “news feed” feature in September 2006 certainly rattled some cages, as did the popular add-on “Facebook chat,” which premiered 18 months later and borrows several key components from other popular instant messenger programs. Yet it was the previous layout change last September that sparked the most controversy, prompting hundreds of thousands, if not millions of users to lash out and join a disapproving group or update their statuses accordingly. Hmm, does this sound at all familiar?

Last week’s tweaking and “Twitterfying” of the interface has sent many of the 175 million-plus users into a fine frenzy over their favorite social networking site. Groups acting as a soapbox for those displeased with the new layout, or promoting a return to the “old Facebook,” sprang up over night, almost on cue, while a healthy majority of my friends’ status updates followed a similar script of unrest. It’s controlled chaos in the form of group protest and devout resentment, and God help me, it is entertaining.

I’m still wondering what the fuss is about. Facebook is the tech-savvy college kid’s Mecca, and its popularity is unquestioned — that’s understandable. This whole scornful, often obscenity-laced plan of action, though? Less so. Everybody has the right to voice their opinion on whether they like something or not; heck, there’s even a button on the site serving that very purpose. But at the end of the day, it is just that: a Web site. A popular one, yes, but a redesign to something so much more Twittery isn’t exactly life-altering, nor should it be.

Out of curiosity — and, perhaps, a bit of cruelty on my behalf — I spent the better part of my weekend collecting the most obscene, hateful and downright laughable status updates made by actual people I know. I did this not to impede on the efforts of the truly disgruntled, but rather, to hopefully gain a little insight into the mind of someone so fed up with the World Wide Web. I’ve included some of the best. All identities have been (obviously) altered and will be kept anonymous.