Brace yourselves: Facebook has already begun the phasing-in process of vast profile-page changes. At the recent F8 Developers Conference, CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced the unveiling of the new Timeline feature: "If the original profile was the first five minutes of your conversation and the stream is the next 15, then I want to show you the rest," said Zuckerberg. He added that the Timeline would be "the story of your life," calling it a "new way to express who you are."
It would seem that Facebook has finally responded to the recent launch of Google+ with its own version of CirclesFacebook's Friend Lists. They're even dabbling in Twitter's bread and butter: the Ticker, a real-time feed of activity from your connections. From selective sharing to digital-footprint curating, Facebook is taking big risks to stay on top of the social networking hierarchy. Here's what you need to know take advantage of these changes:
- Your cover. Use this wide open space to share your personality, your experiences and your life with your network. It's the first thing people see when they visit your Timeline.
- Your stories. Share and highlight your most memorable posts, photos and life events on your Timeline. This is where you can tell your story from beginning to middle to now.
- Your apps. The movies you quote, the songs you have on repeat, the activities you love—now there's a new class of social apps that lets you express who you are through all the things you do.
So there you have it. Facebook's reformulation of the new profile pages which, according to Zuckerberg, is an integral part of the Facebook experience: "We wanted to design a place that feels like your home. You invest a lot of time in it and you curate it."