Timeline
The big announcement at f8 last week was a new profile design, called Timeline. Soon we will be able to travel back in time with ease as profiles become a virtual timeline of our lives.
“Introducing timeline – a new kind of profile. With timeline, now you have a home for all the great stories you’ve already shared. They don’t just vanish as you add new stuff.”
See a demo of the upcoming Timeline layout here. Want to upgrade to the new Timeline early? If you are a developer on Facebook you can activate the changes now. Learn how.
New News Feed – Another HyperArts Blog Post
There have been lots of recent changes to the News Feed, so you can read our recent post about the changes to learn more. Check it out, because I share a cool new way to organize Pages with Smart Lists…
New Smart Friends Lists
Finally lists are getting a makeover. They are much more user-friendly and prominent on the site. And they really are smarter. You can merge old lists with new ones, and Facebook suggests people for different lists (how did they know that my aunt was my family, we have different last names!!?!?!).
It’s also much easier to manage lists, there are lots of organizational tools available on the Lists admin page:
“Want to see posts from your closest friends? Or perhaps you’d like to share a personal story with your family—without also telling all your co-workers. With improved Friend Lists, you can easily see updates from and share with different lists of friends…Lists have existed for several years, but you’ve told us how time-consuming it is to organize lists for different parts of your life and keep them up to date.”
My favorite feature of lists is that you can move specific lists up to the top of your left-column menu into the “Favorites” section. Then it’s easy to see a News Feed from a specific list with one click.
The Social Media Examiner asked a question on their Facebook Wall: could these new lists have been inspired by Google +?
via Social Media Examiner Facebook
The Ticker
The Ticker is pretty self-explanatory, but it’s worth noting that this new feature, which is meant to display “lighter” news than the stories in your News Feed, is taking up a large chunk of real estate in the right column. This was territory previously inhabited by the chat sidebar.
“Ticker shows you the same stuff you were already seeing on Facebook, but it brings your conversations to life by displaying updates instantaneously. Now when a friend comments, asks a question or shares something like a check in, you’ll be able to join the conversation right away. Click on anything in ticker to see the full story and chime in – without losing your place.”
Less Email
You probably received this email from Facebook recently, promising to send you less email by aggregating stories into groups rather than sending individual notifications. You can change your email notification settings anytime, so that you only get notified of certain types of stories.
“Needs Review” Area on Profile
In another move to give users the ability to screen information before it is posted on their profile, Facebook allows us to review activity posted by others. In this new “Needs Review” section, found in the left column of your profile, you can approve or delete personal information posted by friends. For instance, today Facebook showed me that a friend had said “I attended college with Analisa” and I was able to either approve of this story or delete it.
Have we missed something? Share some other changes that you have seen on the Facebook platform in the past week.
