Facebook turns scrapbook – Facebook Timeline
Hate it or love it, it is that time of the year when Facebook decide that they are going to provide you with changes to your profile that you never knew you needed. And this time it isn’t a minor addition like a “like” button, but pretty much a complete overhaul of your Facebook profile page.
My Facebook Timeline
If you have a Facebook Developer account, here is how to enable your Facebook Timeline -
- Log into Facebook
- Enable developer mode, if you haven’t already. To do this, type “developer” into the Facebook search box, click the first result (it should be an app made by Facebook with a few hundred thousand users), and add the app.
- Jump into the developer app (if Facebook doesn’t put you there automatically, it should be in your left-hand tool bar)
- Create a new app (don’t worry — you wont actually be submitting this for anyone else to see/use). Give your shiny new app any display name and namespace you see fit. Read through and agree to the Platform Privacy agreement. This is the step you need to be verified for.
- Ensure you’re in your new app’s main settings screen. You should see your app’s name near the top of the page
- Look for the “Open Graph” header, and click the “Get Started using open graph” link.
- Create a test action for your app, like “read” a “book”, or “eat” a “sandwich”
- This should drop you into an action type configuration page. Change a few of the default settings (I changed the past tense of “read” to “redd” — again, only you can see this unless you try and submit your application to the public directory), and click through all three pages of settings
- Wait 2-3 minutes
- Go back to your Facebook homescreen. An invite to try Timeline should be waiting at the top of the page
The timeline goes all the way back to when you first joined Facebook and even before then listing your friends’ birthdays. The new timeline allows you to add pictures, status updates, notes e.t.c to any period in your timeline, in essence, allowing you to create an online scrapbook of your life.
Beware though as pictures/posts e.t.c from way back in the past are now easily visible, so make sure you have the right privacy settings. If you’ve previously split up with your boyfriend/girlfriend, and got a new relationship with someone else, all those previous “I love you” messages can be easily seen by your new partner, which has the potential to end your current relationship with them. Albeit, if your partner is prepared to dump you because you’re not the only person they’ve ever slept with, you’ve got much bigger problems than Facebook.
You can apply a privacy setting to each individual post or if you go into your Account Privacy Settings – Limit the Audience for Past Posts. This applies a privacy setting to all your private posts in one go, but beware, if you want to unapply these settings you need to go undo it on each individual post.
Happy Scrapbooking!
