Big changes to Facebook this week! As many users have already noticed, Facebook launched its much-anticipated Timeline interface on Thursday. The new feature allows users to display important updates in their lives, from the very beginning (literally, the year they were born). Here are a few highlights:
- Your Cover: Due to the size of the cover photo you select, it will typically be the first thing people view when visiting your page. Keep in mind, this is not considered your profile picture, but serves as more of a backdrop to your timeline. Users are already have fun selecting memorable moments or special images to define them.
- Your Stories: You decide the information that you’d prefer to highlight on your timeline. Choose the stories in your life that you want to present to your social world, starting from day 1.
- Your Apps: What are your interests? New social apps allow a more complete expression of who you are based on the activities you engage in and topics most important to you.
Once your timeline has been enacted, it’s important for users to know that there is a 7-day period of customization, which allows you to design your timeline to look the way you want. Make those days count. What do you want the world to see? Facebook will initially propagate your timeline with stories that it assumes you will want to share. You are able to retain or remove any story, as well as add any missing information.
Another important default setting to be aware of: Only those friends and contacts who were originally included in a post are able to view it on your timeline. However visibility can also be customized on each and every post, so that, to show exactly what you want, and nothing else.
So what do we think about Facebook’s new Timeline feature? Like any Facebook revamp, it takes some time to adapt. But Timeline is a great idea, allowing social interactions and history to be displayed more efficiently. It’s a one stop-shop for everything that matters to you, and friends will no longer need to waste time scrolling down-down-down in order to find specific information. Now it’s right here at your fingertips.
While Facebook has stayed mum about when exactly Timeline will become mandatory for its 800 million active users, it’s a good idea to take advantage of the time for curation. So give it a test drive this week and let us know what you think.
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