Timeline feature now available to Facebook users worldwide

Consumer Reports News: December 15, 2011 02:38 PM

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The new Facebook Timeline has arrived, and you may want to take a few minutes to review how your personal history of updates and actions on the social-media site will appear in the new format. Facebook announced the new timeline feature along with other updates to the social media site this past September.

Timeline is meant to replace your profile on your personal Facebook page, and will encompass your actions on the site, including your app history. According to the Facebook Blog, it also lets you share new things: for example, the music you are listening to and the number of miles you ran today.

The new feature is rolling out gradually, so if you don't yet have a notification but want to jump into Timeline, you can do so at Facebook's Timeline page. You will have seven days to review and edit how your Timeline will appear before anyone else can see it. You should know that regardless of whether you review how your profile will appear in Timeline, it will go live automatically after seven days. All your stories and photos will still be there, just reorganized in this new format.

At the top of the page is a large photo (that you can customize), overlapped by your standard photo on the left. Underneath that is your permanent personal information. Your posts, photos, and so on are sorted by algorithms, so that you can fill in gaps in your Timeline history.

Here is one helpful hint from the Facebook team about navigating the new format:

If you want to see how your timeline appears to other people, click the gear menu at the top of your timeline, and select 'View As.' You can choose to see how your timeline appears to a specific friend or the public.

Timeline: Now Available Worldwide [Facebook Blog]
It's Here! Facebook Timeline Now Available To Users Worldwide [TechCrunch]

—Maggie Shader