Facebook Timeline goes live belatedly

Facebook's Sam Lessin confirmed Tuesday that the social network's previously teased Timeline layout was going live. Shown over two months ago, the redesigned desktop and mobile page was going live for the general public in New Zealand first. It would go out "more broadly" soon, although Lessin didn't say when.

Timeline is a major shift in philosophy for Facebook that reduces the emphasis on recent updates in favor of long-term history. Depending on how much a member fills out, it can go back through to birth. Users can also add important memorable events and selectively choose what events are shown as well as what content is visible in the normally compressed older updates.

Apps also get more persistent placement for updates, and profile photos are much more visual with a banner above the actual profile shot. Those on iPhones, Android devices, and other modern mobile devices get a timeline adapted to their screen size but otherwise with most of the components of the desktop page.

By Electronista Staff