Is it necessary to make it different unless the changes made improves its user experience? If a particular design pattern works and one is unable to improve its usability isn't it better to not change it? Slight change in colors, typography etc may give it a different look.
The main difference is that it's page/group-centric rather than user-centric like most of the sites I would relate it to. Maybe it will just take a lot of iteration to find the right design.
