back to article Facebook VERY SLOWLY rolls out Timeline

Facebook isn't in any great hurry to update its users with the company's "frictionless sharing" feature Timeline, despite boss Mark Zuckerberg enthusiastically announcing it in September 2011. The dominant social network began rolling out Timeline, which Zuck dubbed as "a place you're proud to call your home", last month. …

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  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    anyone actually like timeline?

    personally I find it a PITA as I am looking to see what's new with friends and any new photos (like the majority of people) still I suppose they have to keep trying to 'innovate'.

    Trust management will cash in soon before the next group of teenagers deem it an uncool tool of the older generation and move on to something else....

    1. Clare (web specialist)
      Thumb Up

      Yes

      Whats not to like? It seems to provide an easy to use summary of all your face book activities.

    2. CaptainHook

      Custom List

      "personally I find it a PITA as I am looking to see what's new with friends and any new photos (like the majority of people) still I suppose they have to keep trying to 'innovate'."

      I've got around it by creating a group with all my contacts in it, and then view the timeline of that group, which is (at least at the moment) in the old chronological order. No posts elavated above others based on what Facebook thinks you will find interesting or what Facebook wants to promote for its own benefits.

      It works for me because my friends list is pretty static, but obviously if you add a friend and don't add them to the group you never see an update from them.

    3. Allison Park

      I like it

      it's pretty and organizes things and cuts out most of the crap...but yes you have to spend some time figuring out how to do things like you used to

  2. Richard Jukes

    Already happening

    The new cool thing to do is hang around in groups on streets and riot...they are already behind the times!

  3. DJ Smiley
    Holmes

    Closely listen to emails and messages...

    Well thats clever, concidering when i had a weird security breach (I may still have but turning off the chat "stops" it.) I found it impossible to actually "contact" anyone at facebook.

    Their oh so helpful wiki/forum type thing to report problems ended with me being told to reset my password. Which I'd already done. Multiple times....

    Maybe they mean they are just listening to the users email and messages, without the users knowing?

    1. VinceH
      FAIL

      Optional

      " I found it impossible to actually "contact" anyone at facebook."

      That's useful, then - because I realised the other day that it's possible to work out someone's date of birth if they have timeline, even if it's set as private. The right thing for me to do would be to contact them to point it out and explain how.

  4. Mystic Megabyte
    Unhappy

    "frictionless sharing"

    I tried that but mistakenly used Baileys Irish Cream. Big mistake, it stings like hell!

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    How to view Facebook Timeline pages in the old Profile format

    If you hate Facebook TImeline and want it gone from your profile, there is a genuine method to get the old profile pages back. Facebook have delibarately omitted to make Timeline work with Internet Explorer 7. If you view Timeline pages with Internet Explorer 7 (or set your existing browser to pretend its IE7), you will see the old style profile pages instead.

    Theres a guide to setting up your browser to pretend its IE7 and thus disable Facebook Timeline here: http://fbpurity.com/disable-facebook-timeline.htm

    1. Simon Harris
      Thumb Up

      There's also the somewhat Spartan mobile version of Facebook which works in normal browsers too

      m.facebook.com

      which doesn't have the timeline, and provides a low-bandwidth version of what everyone's up to.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Yes, but

      that stops me seeing things timeline style.

      How do you stop others seeing your timeline (which some people have intimated is less private than the old system)

  6. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    can we go back to face book how it was a year or so ago, where it was a feed of bs my mates and the occasional fan group/individual were spewing plus pictures?

    1. 5.antiago

      Aye

      Completely agree. I quite like reading status updates from friends occasionally but I can barely see these any more, not since the newsfeed became an endless stream of music videos and lists of what articles people have just read. It can't just be me who doesn't give a fuck what articles anybody else is reading today?

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        I kill all that Guardian/Independent articles sh!t so I don't get any of it in future. Have to admit it's an effort keeping on top of blocking all the crap though.

      2. Pascal Monett Silver badge
        Trollface

        "It can't just be me who doesn't give a fuck what articles anybody else is reading today?"

        I totally agree.

        In fact, I agree so much that I don't even have a Facebook account.

        1. Gaz Jay

          Use the "Subscribe" button

          The answer to the problems with everyone seeing Video's and Picture posts can be solved by using the "Subscribe" button that appears at the top of your friends profiles.

          You can choose what you want to see from each particular friend and turn off things that you're not interested in.

          For example, I have one friend who posts particularly funny status updates, which I do want to see, but also posts about 20 music video links a day too, which I don't. I can now just turn off the music links without hiding him outright.

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Not surprised

    Given the number of posts in the Facebook developers group from people wanting to get rid of it it wouldn't surprise me if some people never see it.

    Timeline however does allow you to re-invent history by allowing you to change the date on items you've posted on it retrospectively

  8. Seanmon
    FAIL

    Ho hum.

    Could be the straw that breaks the camel's back IMHO. I've barely used Farceboak at all since that last half-arsed "upgrade". Not that it can't be mildly diverting (some of my friends in distant places are quite funny), but it's just not important enough for me to be arsed with the inconvenience of figuring out all the new shit every time it changes.

    If you want me to use this, don't piss me off. I can quite easily do without.

  9. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    eugh

    I just think it looks really bad

  10. JDX Gold badge

    re:anyone actually like timeline?

    Now FB isn't new, they face the same problem any site/app does when it changes... people don't like change, and people are more vocal to complain than compliment.

    So FB need to make their own judgement if it is better or not. It's very similar to MS and the Ribbon, or Nintendo going for motion controllers on the Wii.

    1. Levente Szileszky
      FAIL

      RE: re:anyone actually like timeline?

      "It's very similar to MS and the Ribbon, or Nintendo going for motion controllers on the Wii."

      Except it's not, it's totally different - both examples are dead wrong: MSO still works without Ribbon (shortcuts, menus etc) and Nintendo's Wii Motion was a resounding, overwhelming success.

      FB Timeline pretty much sucks, whoever approved this junk he must be a complete idiot and there's no way around this PoC and so far everybody hates it.

      BTW I'm more than convinced it's nothing but another try to grab your info without your consent, see my post below where I argue that it's now really time to hit FB with a huge fine...

  11. Tom Wood

    Tennis match

    Is it just me that feels as though I'm watching a tennis match whenever I try and read the profile of someone who's converted? Two columns of data is daft on screen where you can keep scrolling down forever, why should I be looking side to side as well as up and down?

  12. This Side Up
    Flame

    Pull the other one!

    "As with all updates, we take user feedback very seriously "

    Like f*ck they do. In my experience they totally ignore feedback. E.g. I can't enter my home town and they won't amend another totally ficticious town with the same name in a different county.

  13. Levente Szileszky
    Stop

    Time to actually FINE (yes, as in BIG MONEY) Facebook and this freak Sugarhill...

    ...I mean Zuckerberg; seriously.

    Timeline is EXACTLY the thing the FTC was warning against, jmust about a month ago: using *my* information without *my* consent.

    In essence even if you limited all your info to your Friends it will be still broadcasted to the whole world via your friends' Timeline if they do not limit everything the same way you do (Friends only).

    Conversely the only way to prevent this insanity is to get ALL your friends to change their privacy settings to "Friends" only (or even more restricted if they have custom lists)...

    ...good luck with that.

    Zuckerhill knows this very well, the whole Timeline was designed to be unavoidable; this is a truly cynical and arrogant kick into the face of every privacy rules, the FTC etc - a classic scumbag FB move, indeed.

    Isn't it time to actually FINE FACEBOOK/Sugarberg and by that I mean REAL FINE, an amount that stings, painfully (eg a dollar per US user) so they will remember not to screw around anymore? I think so...

  14. JDX Gold badge

    re:both examples are dead wrong

    You can't use "people _like_ one of those" as a counter-argument. That's just subjective and irrelevant. Companies HAVE to make decisions that might displease users in the short-term in order to avoid becoming stalled.

    Exactly how governments sometimes have to do tough things for longer-term growth.

    Whether timeline is a _good_ feature is something we can only tell once people use it for a sufficient period and understand it; you can't try it once and switch back and say that is relevant because most people hate change of any sort.

  15. Gil Grissum
    FAIL

    I've watched other friend's timelines and every time I see it I become more convinced that I do not want it and will not use it. I'm not nostalgic and have no desire to go through people's lives looking at everything they've done. I have no desire to have my life on display this way either. If the force it on us, I'll just delete most of it including photos and just use it form my band fan site. I'm reducing my dependence on Social Networking anyway.

  16. Spud2go
    Pint

    Bald-Faced Voyeurism...

    pure & simple.

    Thats all it amounts to really, privately, publicly, commercially.

  17. Winkypop Silver badge
    Trollface

    Is Facebook compulsory?

    No?

    OK.

  18. That Awful Puppy
    Thumb Down

    No "bitch" in title?

    El Reg, I am disappoint.

  19. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Timeline is a confusing mess. There's little hierarchy of information and it's the definition of 'visual noise'. Facebook seems to have forgotten why it became successful and why MySpace failed - simple always wins.

  20. measmyself

    Am I missing something? Its just a different (nicer) page layout?

    1. teebie

      As far as I can tell the criticisms are

      The layout isn't nicer - a matter of opinion, of course (My opinion:fugly)

      People can now easily see what you put in facebook in 2008, whereas before the might have to scroll down 200 times - some people use facebook in such a way that this is a problem

      Facebook made a change, it is going to be bad - the company does have a lot of form for this, bt it would be helpful if the disgruntled could give some actual examples in their rants

  21. Steve Evans

    Shorely....

    What he really needs is a way to check on those that have proactively *not* opted into it, like myself... Really not looking forward to it. On the profiles I have seen it so far it looks like a dog's dinner.

  22. h 2
    Megaphone

    Feedback to FB

    Use the following link to tell them if you hate it.

    Who know if enough complain they may actually listen

    https://www.facebook.com/help/contact_us.php?id=150272491747654

    1. This post has been deleted by its author

  23. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    '...which Zuck dubbed as "a place you're proud to call your home"...'

    But if it was your 'home' you'd lay it out the way you want to and not change it when someone outside your home wants you to...

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