14 DAY TRIAL // For better or for worse, the Facebook Timeline is here. The latest evolution of the Facebook profile, a gorgeous one at that, it has to be said, is now enabled for everyone. Will this cause an outcry? Most certainly yes, anything Facebook does irritates someone, somewhere.
Will it be so controversial that Facebook will go back on its decision? Most likely no, since most people annoyed by some Facebook change calm down after 'five minutes.'
Certainly not as controversial as the Facebook Ticker, the Timeline is Facebook's latest reimagining of the profile page.
It's an interesting concept, best to seen in action, it aims to tell the story of your life, even the one before Facebook if you can even imagine such a time, sticking the most important events on a timeline, hence the name.
It's a scrapbook, photo album and journal all rolled into one and it looks really good, not just good by Facebook standards, properly good.
Users will start seeing a notification that the Timeline is available for them. Once they decide to opt-in, they will get a seven-day review period. In this time, they can edit their timeline, remove entries that they don't like, add older photos or mark important events in their lives, from marriage to broken bones. During this period, only they can see their timeline.
When they’re satisfied with the edits, they can publish it for all of their friends, or the entire web to see. The Facebook Timeline will eventually be made the default, even if users don't opt-in now.
Users can choose just who gets to see the timeline and have separate privacy controls for any of the entries. This way, they can make sure that a certain photo album is only visible to a few friends, for example.
The Timeline serves a second, very important purpose for Facebook, it's where the new Open Graph apps will live. These apps will augment the timeline, adding info such as what music you like, what are your favorite recipes and so on.
Updated with some clarifications about the opt-in and review period.