Guest Blogger Ann Mullen
[caption id="attachment_2808" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="From CNN.com"]
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Do you remember when your elementary school teachers used to scare you to death with a reminder that your bad grade was going on your permanent record? I knew for a fact that this record existed until I reached college and learned I had a clean slate.
Facebook has perfected an actual permanent record when they officially rolled out Timeline their newest addition to the world-wide social network of 800 million members yesterday (12.15.11). Not everyone is getting the design at the same time although people very excited to see or start the design early can go to Facebook.com/about/Timeline to get it. It should be in gear for all in about a week.
Facebook has said that the point behind Timeline is to chronicle someone’s life and major events over many years instead of the social network’s current profile pages that emphasize the ‘now’. People will be able to ‘feature’ times in their lives or hide the embarrassing ones, according to some of the news about the design.
Extra! Extra! Read all about it
Not everyone is thrilled about the new look as seen from the headlines of various news sources. For example New York Times headline said, “Facebook’s New Design Brings Back User’s Past” (12/15/11). USA Today said, “Facebook Timeline’s here: Users have 7 days to edit profiles” (12/15/11).
Wired Enterprise was more positive saying, “Facebook Pulls Back Curtain on ‘Timeline’ " (12/15/11). CNN.com reported, “Facebook’s Timeline now available to everyone” (12/15/11).
The information in each of the different publications echoed their headlines.
New York Times was cautious saying, “For better or worse, the new format is likely to bring back a lot of old memories. But going forward, it could also make it harder to shed past identities—something that people growing up with Facebook might struggle with as they transition from high school to college and from there to the working world.”
USA Today said, “If you have embarrassing photos or posts on Facebook, you’ll have seven days after switching to Timeline to prune them before Timeline becomes the default look on your profile page.”
Some love it already; others, not so much.
Mashable founder Pete Cashmore said in a September column for CNN, “Facebook is about to completely change the way its profile pages look as part of the website’s biggest redesign so far, and only a fraction of the website’s 800 million users seem to have the slightest clue.” He was quoted in the CNN.com article yesterday.
“So yes, you will hate the new Facebook profile when it launches. . .” he added, “Then, like me, you’ll realize that Facebook has unleashed something so remarkable that you didn’t even recognize it at first: A meaningful social network. And . . . you’ll wonder why life wasn’t always this way, and how you got by without it.”
On the other hand R. “Ray” Wang, CEO at Constellation Research was quoted in USA Today saying, “There is a growing concern among individuals that Facebook is driving individuals to trade their privacy for convenience without understanding the risks. Can individuals turn it off forever if Facebook still owns the data? What do you do to take yourself out of a Timeline? Is this the beginning of digital extortion?”
Is Facebook Timeline offering privacy?
In a recent article by Roohi Moolla, "Facebook Settles FTC Charges of Cosumer Deception and Privacy Promises" in SocialBizNow (12/6/11) Facebook the Federal Trade Commission made charges against Facebook concerning private information made public.
Mark Zuckerburg, CEO of Facebook, admitted that Facebook had deceived consumers by telling them they could keep their information on Facebook private, while allowing the information to be shared, some people are not certain about the security Facebook is offering.
Zuckerburg said that over the past 18 months Facebook has announced more than 20 new tools and resources created to provide more security control. Does this apply to Timeline?
Zuckerberg in the USA Today article said that Timeline is a way to share life experiences. But it could also become a carrot for marketers and advertisers to target consumers based on their “likes” and devotion to certain brands as Facebook duels with Google+ and other social media for advertising dollars, analysts say.
According to the CNN article there will be a new Activity Log page that will make it easier for people to see everything and to find certain posts, which they can then choose to hide. However, the eternal question is how hidden is hidden?
Another question is will future employers look at a prospective employee’s Timeline and decide not to hire him or her without seeing that individual in person? Klout, another social media application, is already limiting people’s chances at jobs. Will Timeline do more of the same? Only time will tell.
After all, it’s a part of your permanent record.
What do you think about Timeline? Love it, hate it, even know about it before December 15, 2011? Please answer in the box below.
[caption id="attachment_2808" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="From CNN.com"]
[/caption]Do you remember when your elementary school teachers used to scare you to death with a reminder that your bad grade was going on your permanent record? I knew for a fact that this record existed until I reached college and learned I had a clean slate.
Facebook has perfected an actual permanent record when they officially rolled out Timeline their newest addition to the world-wide social network of 800 million members yesterday (12.15.11). Not everyone is getting the design at the same time although people very excited to see or start the design early can go to Facebook.com/about/Timeline to get it. It should be in gear for all in about a week.
Facebook has said that the point behind Timeline is to chronicle someone’s life and major events over many years instead of the social network’s current profile pages that emphasize the ‘now’. People will be able to ‘feature’ times in their lives or hide the embarrassing ones, according to some of the news about the design.
Extra! Extra! Read all about it
Not everyone is thrilled about the new look as seen from the headlines of various news sources. For example New York Times headline said, “Facebook’s New Design Brings Back User’s Past” (12/15/11). USA Today said, “Facebook Timeline’s here: Users have 7 days to edit profiles” (12/15/11).
Wired Enterprise was more positive saying, “Facebook Pulls Back Curtain on ‘Timeline’ " (12/15/11). CNN.com reported, “Facebook’s Timeline now available to everyone” (12/15/11).
The information in each of the different publications echoed their headlines.
New York Times was cautious saying, “For better or worse, the new format is likely to bring back a lot of old memories. But going forward, it could also make it harder to shed past identities—something that people growing up with Facebook might struggle with as they transition from high school to college and from there to the working world.”
USA Today said, “If you have embarrassing photos or posts on Facebook, you’ll have seven days after switching to Timeline to prune them before Timeline becomes the default look on your profile page.”
Some love it already; others, not so much.
Mashable founder Pete Cashmore said in a September column for CNN, “Facebook is about to completely change the way its profile pages look as part of the website’s biggest redesign so far, and only a fraction of the website’s 800 million users seem to have the slightest clue.” He was quoted in the CNN.com article yesterday.
“So yes, you will hate the new Facebook profile when it launches. . .” he added, “Then, like me, you’ll realize that Facebook has unleashed something so remarkable that you didn’t even recognize it at first: A meaningful social network. And . . . you’ll wonder why life wasn’t always this way, and how you got by without it.”
On the other hand R. “Ray” Wang, CEO at Constellation Research was quoted in USA Today saying, “There is a growing concern among individuals that Facebook is driving individuals to trade their privacy for convenience without understanding the risks. Can individuals turn it off forever if Facebook still owns the data? What do you do to take yourself out of a Timeline? Is this the beginning of digital extortion?”
Is Facebook Timeline offering privacy?
In a recent article by Roohi Moolla, "Facebook Settles FTC Charges of Cosumer Deception and Privacy Promises" in SocialBizNow (12/6/11) Facebook the Federal Trade Commission made charges against Facebook concerning private information made public.
Mark Zuckerburg, CEO of Facebook, admitted that Facebook had deceived consumers by telling them they could keep their information on Facebook private, while allowing the information to be shared, some people are not certain about the security Facebook is offering.
Zuckerburg said that over the past 18 months Facebook has announced more than 20 new tools and resources created to provide more security control. Does this apply to Timeline?
Zuckerberg in the USA Today article said that Timeline is a way to share life experiences. But it could also become a carrot for marketers and advertisers to target consumers based on their “likes” and devotion to certain brands as Facebook duels with Google+ and other social media for advertising dollars, analysts say.
According to the CNN article there will be a new Activity Log page that will make it easier for people to see everything and to find certain posts, which they can then choose to hide. However, the eternal question is how hidden is hidden?
Another question is will future employers look at a prospective employee’s Timeline and decide not to hire him or her without seeing that individual in person? Klout, another social media application, is already limiting people’s chances at jobs. Will Timeline do more of the same? Only time will tell.
After all, it’s a part of your permanent record.
What do you think about Timeline? Love it, hate it, even know about it before December 15, 2011? Please answer in the box below.
Ann Mullen has been writing most of her life, some of it even for pay. She wrote as many as three columns a week for a newspaper in South Texas. For the last year she has been learning about websites, blogging and social media marketing. Lately, Ann has been a team member of BroadVision Marketing at http://www.broadvisionmarketing.com. You can contact her at mullenann4@gmail.com.
Related articles
- Everyone can get Facebook Timeline right now (gadgetell.com)
- Timeline feature now available to Facebook users worldwide (news.consumerreports.org)
