5 Facebook Timeline Changes You Can't Wait to Make

Facebook gives you seven days to make changes to your Timeline before it goes live for all to see. Here are five things you should do in that time, from aesthetics to removing content.

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Tue, December 20, 2011

CIO — Facebook made waves last week as the social network finally rolled out Timeline, it's newly redesigned profile, to all users worldwide.

Timeline, which was first announced in September, is the most dramatic change in Facebook profiles to date. And while opinions about the new profile are mixed, one thing is for certain: Timeline is here to stay.

Once you switch to Timeline, you'll have seven days to make changes to your profile before Facebook pushes it live. You can make it public yourself anytime within the one-week period.

Here's a look at five things you can do—from aesthetics to removing content—in those seven days to get your profile ready for primetime.

1. Clean Up Your Content

Because Timeline makes your past posts easily searchable to all your friends, the first thing you should do before going live with your new profile is clean up any embarrassing or unwanted posts. For many—early adoters especially—dredging up the past for all to see could be a privacy nightmare.

Facebook doesn't make this task easy. You have three options when you adjust your settings: You can make all your posts friends-only; you can limit the posts by others on your Timeline; and you can review every item ever posted to your wall individually, and set your privacy controls accordingly.

For a detailed step-by-step on how to adjust your settings in these three ways, read: Facebook's New Timeline: Important Settings to Adjust Now.

2. Have Fun With Your Cover Photo

One of the most significant differences between the old profile and Timeline is the emphasis Facebook puts on visuals: Timeline's photos are much larger, and the cover photo is no exception.

Your cover photo is the long photo that spans the width of your profile. Inset is a smaller photo that shows up in searches for you and in your friends' News Feeds.


Facebook says that you should "fill this wide, open space with a unique image that represents you best. It's the first thing people see when they visit your timeline."

If you're unsure about what to put there, take a look at the profiles of your friends who have already switched over to timeline. Have fun with it.

[Want more tips, tricks and details on Facebook? Check out CIO.com's Facebook Bible.]

3. Fill in the Blanks

When you switch to Timeline, you'll notice a new button on your Status Update bar: Life Event. In addition to updating your status and uploading pictures as you would before, Facebook encourages you to fill out important events that happened in your life.

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