Ready or not, here it comes. Facebook users have had the option of updating their profile to the new timeline for months. While quite a few took hold of the opportunity to be among the first, there are some like the Simplify Your Home crew who were holding out. Now we need to get in gear, because this Saturday, all profiles will be updated to the new facebook timeline.
Moving from Beginning to End, facebook Timeline Shows Your Life
From doing some research on what to expect with timeline and other social media practices, here is what the Simplify Your Home crew discovered:
- Once you get timeline, you will have seven days to review your information. This will be your chance to delete any posts you do not want made public.
- When timeline gets published on your page, make time to go through your profile again to see if you missed anything that was stored. You will want to periodically do this to keep your content fresh and keep anything embarrassing off your page.
- Timeline is definitely for the visual individual. With an enlarged cover photo, smaller profile photo and the design of the page, your eyes will move across the page. It is great for skimmers too.
- As with any facebook update, you will want to check your privacy settings. It is a good idea to just limit it to those you know instead of making your information public. Check out facebooks help center on the subject: http://www.facebook.com/help/privacy.
- Specifically, check the privacy settings on your birthday, home address, phone number and how friends can tag you.
- There are news stories circulating that employers want to “shoulder surf” your facebook profile and other social media sites. While the legality of it is an issue this crew will not dive into, it should remind you that future employers will probably try to Google you and cruise your social media sites. Keep this in mind when your facebook profile page is updated to timeline.
- If you are a parent and your kids have pages, remember the timeline change will go into effect for them too. Now would be a great time to review their pages with them and also remind them of the dos and don’ts of social media.
- You will now be able to pin posts, add new apps, add milestones and much more. Get the scoop at the facebook help center: https://www.facebook.com/help?page=336062209769713
- Another neat feature is that you will now be able to directly message your favorite brands. Sending them a nice note every once in awhile is always nice. Who knows? Some day those kind words could be returned to you.
- As the spring break season closes and summer vacation nears, try and save posting vacation photos until you get home. It could help your belongings remain secure.
In case you want some more information about timeline specifically, here are a few resources the Simplify Your Home crew found while surfing the internet:
- PC World – Facebook’s New Timeline Layout: A Getting Started Guide: http://www.pcworld.com/article/240485/facebooks_new_timeline_layout_a_gettingstarted_guide.html
- Facebook Blog – Read posts about new apps, the start of it all and more: http://blog.facebook.com/
- Hubze.com – Ten Things You Need to Know about Revamped facebook Pages: http://hubze.com/2012/03/top-10-things-you-need-to-know-about-the-new-facebook-timeline-for-pages-infographic/
Could you imagine if photos were still stored in portable containers, friends wrote letters like they do posts and family had to call one another instead of keeping in touch on facebook? Yeah, the Simplify Your Home crew does not miss those times either.