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YOUR FRIENDS' ACTIVITY

    Facebook Timeline goes live--out with old, in with new

    By Don Reisinger | CNET.com – Fri, Dec 16, 2011

    Facebook's new Timeline.Facebook's more than 800 million members will now be able to convert their profiles to the new Timeline design.

    The world's largest social network announced Timeline in September, and now it's available worldwide. The feature replaces current user profiles and dramatically overhauls how information is shared on the service.

    "It's a way to tell all the important stories from your life on a single page," Facebook co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg said when he announced the new feature at his company's F8 Conference.

    Timeline shows all the updates a person has added to Facebook since they joined the site. It also follows the social network's desire to provide users with a single place to showcase what has happened in their lives over the years.

    Aside from a prominent picture at the top and basic information below it, Timeline has a right sidebar listing years in chronological order that you can click on to see what a user shared on the site, who they made friends with, and other information for any given period. Timeline even includes a map where people can input where they've been around the world.

    Facebook said this morning that people can head over to its Timeline information page and turn the feature on. Upon doing so, they will have seven days to review their timelines and decide whether certain photos or wall posts shared on the site over the years should be shared or kept hidden from view.

    I loaded up Timeline this morning and was immediately hit with a sense of nostalgia. I went back to updates and posts friends put on my wall years prior. In many cases, they were things (and events) that I had long forgotten. But Facebook hadn't. And now, my friends and I can relive some of those moments.

    Aside from that, I was pleased with Facebook's decision to let me customize just about everything in Timeline. If there was something I didn't think should be shared any longer, I simply made it private. And if certain information was worth sharing again, I made it publicly viewable.

    Inevitably, some folks will complain about Timeline's design and Facebook heaping major changes on its user base. But from what I've seen so far, it's a solid update. It offers privacy features, it comes with a nice design, and it makes getting to know people (in the virtual world, at least) a bit easier.

    Facebook said it will automatically push the timeline live seven days after someone signs up for the new feature. However, if folks are content with what's shared after reviewing it, they can push it live themselves at any point within that period.

     

    (Credit: Facebook)

     
     
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    667 comments

    • Hannah
      Hannah  •  Bergenfield, New Jersey  •  3 mths ago
      Facebook is turning into myspace and I believe if they keep this "timeline" it will gradually fade away just like myspace. Point is timeline sucks, it doesn't even feel like facebook anymore.
    • Richard
      Richard  •  Stamford, Connecticut  •  4 mths ago
      get rid of the timeline and the computer, please...i really got into FB 3 years ago on my cousin Bevs' advice and i was getting into it. and now everyday! if it keeps changing, I WILL BOYCOTT IT!
    • Marty
      Marty  •  St Louis, Missouri  •  4 mths ago
      timeline sucks
    • J. Shevlin
      J. Shevlin  •  Sacramento, United States  •  5 mths ago
      Who has time to go through the past X number of years of facebook posts, photos, etc. to decide what's private and what's public? Seriously!
      • Myrtle joyce
        Myrtle joyce 5 mths ago
        Currently, it depends. So you have a Facebook account? I only have one using my Yahoo! email.
      • 2626262626
        2626262626 5 mths ago
        Someone who has enough time to read this whole article.
      • Julie
        Julie 5 mths ago
        I agree also. Who has the time?
    • Jen
      Jen  •  4 mths ago
      Still trying to figure out why people need Facebook at all. I can call all my friends on the phone or send an email. Why on earth would I want to publicize every thing that I have done on Facebook? I never had a Facebook account and never will. I can't see the benefit of it all...but then again, I have always been a private person. So Facebook can change whatever they want, it will never affect me.
    • Babs
      Babs  •  5 mths ago
      They need to leave it alone! I don't like that idea one bit... what is in the past should stay in the past. There are some things that people may not want everyone to remember!
      • Tyler
        Tyler 5 mths ago
        Stop acting like this is news. They announced this months ago. The Internet is written in ink. If you want something to stay private, don't put it online. Timeline is great. I've had it since October.
      • Kelly Noble
        Kelly Noble 5 mths ago
        You can go back and remove anything you don't want showing up in your timeline.
      • Amber
        Amber 5 mths ago
        ^Yeah but that would take forever to have to go pick out every little thing you don't want posted that's been on there for years.
    • Redds
      Redds  •  Toledo, United States  •  5 mths ago
      I think we should have been giving the choice to have it or not. I for one don't like things forced on me because someone else likes it. It has been on my site for months and I haven't found a way to get rid of it. I hate it. I started moving my stuff to MSN over this.
      • Stephanie
        Stephanie 5 mths ago
        Your choice is to be on facebook or not. There is always google+ or myspace...
      • Julie
        Julie 5 mths ago
        I agree, Redds.
        I don't want that stuff on my page, either. I like Facebook the way it is. Why should we have to move over to Google+ or Myspace just because people like Stephanie says so.
      • Kevin
        Kevin 5 mths ago
        With all due respect, nothing in this article says that any Facebook user is going to be compelled to use Timeline. The only reference to "pushing" is in reference to the seven day "deadline" for activation ONCE the person signs up for the feature. If you don't want Timeline, don't sign up at the Timeline information page and everything will be the same (until the next site wide innovation anyways).
    • Sassy girl
      Sassy girl  •  5 mths ago
      Just leave #$%$ alone and quit changing what doesn't need to be fixed. Facebook is soon going to be like MySpace and become obsolete if they keep this crap up. It's not user friendly at all. I will soon be deleting my account if I'm forced to have this #$%$ty Timeline thing. Uggh.
    • Flora
      Flora  •  5 mths ago
      Far too public. FB will lose a lot of people because of this application. I hope they do.
    • Uneducated Stupid Idiot
      Uneducated Stupid Idiot  •  5 mths ago
      The FBI's got a timeline on people now. Still won't get a Facebook.
    • Ashley
      Ashley  •  Miami, United States  •  5 mths ago
      Don't fix what's already working!
    • ej_yamato
      ej_yamato  •  Manila, Philippines  •  5 mths ago
      This is really pointless.... upgrading facebook to the NEW??? Who even said that old was bad? World ain't thinking right today, all im saying is that we need to think to what we do first IF WE WILL AFFECT OTHERS
    • Paula
      Paula  •  5 mths ago
      i Hate the new facebook timeline and every time they make a change to fb, i hate it. i like and miss the way fb was a year ago now its just not fun any more.
      • Ingrid
        Ingrid 5 mths ago
        You can create your own time line if you want to and it is not mandatory. I have created one and yes all my friends and I can go back according to the year or month or the highlights per year etc what we did when. Nothing technology wise does not remain the same you should know that especially how fast technology changes monthy!
      • Sassy girl
        Sassy girl 5 mths ago
        Just because technology continually changes, does not mean they are good changes. I think that's what Paula is saying. I agree....quit changing things that don't need changing.
    • socialtomboy
      socialtomboy  •  5 mths ago
      I don't have the timeline yet but I have friends that do. They hate it...Their friends list that was private became public even after they tried making them private & same w/ their photos. Facebook will lose alot of people when it's switched over including me.
    • A Yahoo! User  •  5 mths ago
      Try making an actual phone call where you use your voice and not your fingers and thumbs remember phone calls waaaay back in 2006. We are fast becoming a lazy society!
    • Cal
      Cal  •  5 mths ago
      "In many cases, they were things (and events) that I had long forgotten. But Facebook hadn't."

      Kind of creepy when you think about it.
    • Philip
      Philip  •  Santa Clara, United States  •  5 mths ago
      The theme of the self absorbed generation, it is all about me ,wonderful me ,me,me,me,me,me.. Ate a banana took a crap aint I grand. A complete waste of time learn to write letters,converse face to face and stop all that God damned texting while driving, if you run me off the road ,I will hunt you down like a dog.
    • marc
      marc  •  Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam  •  5 mths ago
      Shomer Shabbas today... seems like a lot of people forgot or don't care...
      • Joe
        Joe 5 mths ago
        I guess Walter won't be rolling today.
    • Mark
      Mark  •  Boston, United States  •  5 mths ago
      I think there will be a class action lawsuit. Bye Bye Facebook
    • Spectrum
      Spectrum  •  Issaquah, United States  •  5 mths ago
      Facebook is for ppl who are extremly self absorbed or have no lives! Its either all about me or how long can i sit here & fat it up living through other ppls lives... for all those who use it properly, this isnt to u, but to all the vain ones who have to post a pic of themselves from there car 5 x's a day or from whatever bathroom there in.... get a life!
     Post a comment
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