Anyone interested in social media has undoubtedly heard or seen the Facebook Timeline profile.  The Timeline was announced to the public in September 2011, but it was only released to people with “Developer” profiles, leaving the rest of us itching with excitement.  Well, the wait is over, with Timeline’s unveiling last week.

So what exactly is the Timeline profile?  This profile is designed to be a scrapbook of your life.  According to Facebook, “Timeline is your collections of the photos, posts and experiences that help tell your story.”  The Timeline features a sleek new design that focuses on photos and videos– the ultimate strength of Facebook.  It also finally allows users to incorporate their own design ideas on their profile.

One of the most positive aspects of Facebook’s biggest change yet is that it is not forcing users to switch to it immediately.  Facebook is brilliantly allowing the new profile to go viral instead of forcing something new on users– which has historically been met with a negative backlash.  It is unclear yet if and when all users will be eventually forced to switch to the new look.

As with most Facebook changes, the biggest concern for most people is their privacy.  Thankfully, the Timeline creators have taken this into consideration for once.  When you opt to switch to the Timeline format, you are given seven days to review your posts, filter through posts, and alter who can see what.

Of course, to research this blog I had to make the switch myself.  Fortunately, changing to the timeline was easy and I love it.  The only downside is that it does emphasize those moments from High School that I would rather forget and certainly don’t want a future employer to see.  Despite this drawback, I would recommend switching to the timeline format immediately.

Have you switched to the Timeline profile yet?  What do you think?