I'm sorry, but this is just "anti" for the sake of it. If you have a good enough relationship with friends and family, Facebook is just another medium to stay in touch. I'd agree that if it's the only medium, there may be issues, but your suggestions are merely alternatives, no better and in some instances slightly worse (no, the postal service is not a valid alternative). Yes, there are other options, but Facebook works well enough for a majority of folk. I'll come clean and say that I'm not a fan of Facebook, I find it too intrusive. That said most of my immediate friends and family use it and get an awful lot out of it. The psychological benefits of just feeling connected cannot be understated.
Their solution is perfectly content, you just don't like the aesthetic. Nothing wrong with that at all and neither is expressing that opinion. Calling the people behind the restyle of ALA 'so called "designers"' is disrespectful though and no amount of fallacy is going to change that.
I call design is simply not as black and white as you'd like it to be and cynicism is lazy. To deny that this aesthetic is controversial is to have not read any of this thread. The very fact that you are suggesting a lack of purpose in the design of the masthead and using a strawman to back it up suggests a modicum of controversy.
Long time reader, second time poster here. I'd agree that that the previous poster is quite blunt, however his biggest crime seems to be being pro Apple, with a negative view of Google, which is no good reason to lambast the chap. To be honest, a lot of the pettiness here is as a result of percieved allegiances to a brand or an ideology. Some of the faux moral outrage exhibited here is amusing and distressing in equal measure.
This sort of response is precisely what the OP was alluding to. Try and read his post with a degree of rationality and a modicum of humility and then respond. You'll be amazed at how much better you and your point comes across.