Even the big boys of social networking have to keep it fresh. Facebook has revamped its site, giving its users an opportunity to have a chronological timeline, a sort of digital scrapbook.
The idea behind Facebook’s new Timeline is to allow users to have a well-rounded snapshot, instead of one chiefly emphasizing the most present events and updates. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, recognizing the social network’s widening impact, unveiled the new plan in September in an effort to make the site even more relevant and user-friendly. Last week, it became available to Facebook’s 800 million users.
“We're more than what we did just recently,” Zuckerberg said during the announcement. “We want to design a place that feels like your home.”
And “homey” it is. On a single page, users have new ways to creatively tell the stories of their lives. Fully customizable, the Timeline allows users to determine what will become publicly viewable and what to hide -no need to fear that awful 80s prom picture. It also allows users to highlight milestones, i.e. engagements, graduations, births. In other words, the important events are weighted according to their relevance not only their chronology.
Arranged in two columns of information, Timeline will arrange posts, photos and important events chronologically with a blue vertical line in the middle marking the dates. Users will set a cover photo –a large banner-type shot that will serve as the welcome mat to a user’s profile. Visitors to a user’s profile can easily look to the dates they specifically are interested in seeing, skipping those that they deem irrevelevant. Once the Timeline is turned on, users have 7 days to customize their page before it goes automatically becomes pubic.
As with all changes Facebook has made, a groundswell of users are complaining, threatening to close their accounts. Idle threats, really, since Facebook’s users just keep growing. Once the dust has settled, FB users will settle in and realize that what Facebook has done is create an even more meaningful and relevant network – one that you can’t imagine living without.
Michelle Meyer is blogger at Mijo! Brands in Mexico.
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