What were those Facebook pranksters up to now? They are always changing things, but this seemed pretty major. Suddenly some of my Friend’s Profiles had turned into Timelines. It was a complete re-design of the profile pages – much bigger, lots more visual categories and wall posts on two sides of a timeline.
I hated it. I long ago realized that change is inevitable, and not always a bad thing, but I found this to be really disconcerting. Rumor had it that while changing over to the Timeline was optional for the moment, that sooner or later we would all have it, like it or not. I decided to wait until I was forced to change.
Some people took the impending change pretty hard. The hand-wringing, the angst, and the pathos filled my News Feed.
How dare FB do such a thing, they wanted to know. One Friend of a Friend actually said that this is not the Facebook he signed up for; this isn’t what we, the people of Facebook, want! There was some talk of petitions, and one suggestion that if enough of us rose up and refused to accept it, that Facebook would have no choice but to abandon the Timeline.
Well, not exactly. Facebook is free. Therefore, they can literally do whatever they want to the layout, and we have absolutely no say in it. Some Friends threatened to leave Facebook for good if they “went through with it.” You have absolutely no obligation to use Facebook if it displeases you in some way, so leave if you hate it.
Some folks were apoplectic that people would now be able to look at their history of posts on Facebook. They felt that it was an invasion of their privacy. People could always see your history on your profile; now they can just find 2007 more easily. Honestly, just check out your privacy settings – you can completely control who sees any of the information you post on Facebook.
The fact is that Timeline contains the same information, with all the same privacy settings available as the Profile. The only thing that is different about the Timeline is the design. So everyone can just relax, and turn their attention to the real problems in their lives.
As time went on, FB further proved it was a dictatorship, not a democracy. They started to use some questionable tactics to trick people into changing to Timeline. They would invite you to “try” it, and once you did, you couldn’t change back.
The Facebook Gods were more forceful in my case. One day Timeline was there when I went into my Profile, but it was only visible to me, not anyone else. They explained that I could accept it and design it my way or by March 31st they would post it anyway. These were kind of gangster tactics, if you ask me, but effective. I reluctantly looked it over, made a few changes, and then published it.
By the end of the day, I pretty much loved Timeline. Who said an old dog can’t learn new tricks?
i still dont get all the fuss..i NEVER look at anyone's profile..just whatever shows up on my wall...so who cares???? do people really go in at look at others profiles on a regular basis??
ReplyDeleteI think sometimes people look at each other's profiles - not everyone is on every day like we are, Jeanne!!
ReplyDeleteMuah-ha-ha-ha-ha! Still have the old Timeline. You'll never take me alive, Facebook!
ReplyDelete~Brian G.
You say that now, Brian, but someday Timeline will show up at your Facebook door, and you'll look at it and say, "Hmm, a photo of the band really would look good in that wide-angle Cover photo space..." and you will succumb! :-)
ReplyDelete