Facebook is one of the most frequently accessed websites in the world, competing with the likes of Google. They recently went public in one of the world’s largest IPO’s. In a constantly changing world, Facebook too tries to bring the best user experience to their users. One such attempt to do so has been Facebook Timeline, which will be made compulsory post August 8th.
Facebook Timeline was first announced at a Developer Conference way back in September 2011. Touted as “one of the biggest announcements since the birth of the platform”, it aims to tell the story of each user to the world. Their friends can go back in time and easily access posts from the user’s past, as per their privacy settings.
Timeline officially began rolling out to users in December 2011. While many embraced it, there were also people who were not happy with it and wanted to revert back to the standard profile view, which Facebook allowed initially. After coming out for the desktop site, Timeline soon began to be available via the Android and iOS Facebook apps, followed by the smartphone mobile websites.
Now, after almost a year of its initial announcement, Facebook is making it compulsory for all users to switch over to the Timeline style of user profile. Post August 8th, all of Facebook’s 800 Million users will be involuntarily be switched over to Timeline.
Facebook, who recently updated its security options, has faced flak for this decision from some of their users. A search to gauge the user’s reactions to this move shows many people feel cheated by Facebook and that they do not want change. Nevertheless, as of now Facebook has maintained that users will not be able to switch back to the conventional profile page any more.
We feel it is a welcome move, as Timeline does indeed enhance the Facebook experience with various innovations. If everyone takes the time to understand its advantages, we feel they will be more receptive to the change.
What do you think? Are you happy with Facebook Timeline? Do let us know in the comments below.
