Whether you’re ready or not, the newest update from Facebook is coming your way. It’s called the Facebook Timeline.
You can avoid switching for now, but soon enough ALL Facebook profiles will be switched to match the same format. (“Within a few weeks”) The layout of the new profiles, as Mark Zuckerberg puts it, “shows the story of your life.”
Before:
After:
Facts you may want to know before you make the switch:
- Instead of continually scrolling down your profile, searching for an event, status update, or wall post, you can view specific TYPES of posts, jump down to the very beginning, or search by year.
- You can add “life events” or “stories” to your profile, (when you were born, went on a trip, got married, had kids, ect.) and categorize them as well as adding in the exact day.
- You also have a “cover photo” to pay attention to now, as well. Unlike your profile photo, this photo doesn’t have to be you, (as mine is with my precious dog, Lily) but it can represent you with a scenery photo of where you love to go, or would like to go (which is the most popular of what I’ve seen.) Or it can just be a photo you simply… like.
Questions you might be asking:
- Is my profile still private? Well, somewhat. It’s easy for everyone to see every single embarrassing moment, awkward photo or annoying status update you’ve posted in the past, just by clicking a button.
- So how can you avoid this? You have two options:
- A very timely way, is by going through each post. The ones you don’t want on your profile and shown to the public, you hover over and click on, “hide from timeline.” This could take hours if you’re as active as I am on Facebook.
- The other way, is you make your profile private to everyone except your friends. That way, your true friends are the ones who see the embarrassing moments you wish you could delete. (But are too lazy to – like me!) To do this, go to your “privacy settings,” and make sure the “friends” tab is checked.
- Whenever you are in doubt of how well you’ve cleaned up your profile… Check the “View As” tab. You can view your profile from a strangers point of view, or the view of any friend you type in. At least now we have a way of checking it ourselves and knowing for sure what is hidden!
- So how can you make the switch now? Don’t sit in terror anymore awaiting the inevitable. You can easily switch now before you’re forced to do so, and you’ll have 7 days from the time you switch until everything is completely active and shown to the world. If you’d like to take the leap, go to the Facebook Timeline page.
- Here is a promo video Facebook made to Introduce Timeline to those who need a a visual. (Like me!)
So…. Have you made the switch yet? I would love to hear your thoughts – leave a comment below!
& don’t forget to subscribe to my blog via email to receive posts directly to your inbox!
