Facebook has announced an update on the Facebook blog today that the rollout of Timeline, its new profile page concept and layout, is now available wordwide.
Timeline was originally introduced at the Facebook f8 conference on September 22, 2011, but was limited to only a few people and those who took the time to install the “developer” version (yes, for geeks like me who couldn’t wait).
Timeline is, according to Facebook, “…a new kind of profile that lets you highlight the photos, posts and life events that help you tell your story”. It looks completely different from the “old” Facebook, which was just a “wall” of posts and comments – now, it looks like this:
Over the next few weeks, everyone will get Timeline. When you get Timeline, you’ll have 7 days to preview what’s there now. This gives you a chance to add or hide whatever you want before anyone else sees it.
There will be a quick tour available at the top of your Timeline to learn about the new features, or if you want to get timeline now, go to the Introducing Timeline page and click “Get Timeline” - or you can wait until you see an announcement at the top of your home page on Facebook.
Yes, this means that whether you like it or not, you’ll soon have to use Timeline – and be forced to have the new look of Facebook’s new profile pages.
One of the most compelling features of Timeline is that it’s really easy to see older posts and images, with the context of when those posts and images were created with a “timeline” down the center of the screen.
The question I think a lot of people will have is whether or not they want those posts or images “always” accessible – you may be happy that it’s wasn’t that easy to go into your history and see pictures of that ex-boyfriend and you from 2 years ago – the older stuff was harder to find in the past. With Timeline, your whole history is just a click or two away.
Once you’ve activated Timeline here, you still have 7 days to review your posts and change privacy settings. If you decide that you want to make any of your older content private, go to your Privacy Settings (under the Home link at the top right of your Facebook account) and click “Limit The Audience For Past Posts“:
To see what your new profile will look like to the public (or to specific people), click the Cog symbol to the right of your new profile photo and click “View As…“
For me, the jury is still out on Timeline – I love that images I’ve uploaded are much more visible, and the sense of time and history, but it seems harder to follow a thread of conversation and very “boxy” – everything is in it’s own box now and I feel a bit like I’m in Legoland.
What do you think of Facebook’s new Timeline? Post a link in your comment below to your Facebook page or profile along with your comments.
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Roohi, thank you for this. A friend of mine is already using Timeline on Facebook. I like the look of it – more like a blog.