Message: Possibly some nunchi like applications
Facebook changes will share even more data
Benny Evangelista, Chronicle Staff Writer
San Francisco ChronicleOctober 2, 2011 04:00 AMCopyright San Francisco Chronicle. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Sunday, October 2, 2011
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In the coming weeks Facebook will roll out a major makeover that, depending on your point of view, is being called wonderful or creepy, brilliant or a "stalker's paradise."
The social network plans to transform the profile pages of all its members from a static listing of data - such as city, birth date, school, workplace, hobbies and interests - into Timeline, a more engaging, constantly updating, eye-catching "digital scrapbook." Combined with an expanded platform of applications that encourages members to share what they're doing without even thinking about it, the Palo Alto firm hopes to strengthen its role as a centerpiece of online activity, culture and commerce.
"Facebook is really becoming the operating system of the Internet," said Reggie Bradford, chief executive officer of social-media marketing firm Virtue Inc. of Atlanta. "Facebook platform changes continue to position them as the place that consumers come to connect."
Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg unveiled Timeline at the company's F8 developer conference last month in San Francisco. Timeline is still in beta mode, although some members are already using it.
Facebook plans to switch all members to Timeline in a few weeks, although the exact date hasn't been set. Each member will have five days to "curate" their Timeline, to find content they want to highlight or weed out material to hide.
After that, Timeline will go live and there will be no way to go back to the old profile style. The company wants everyone to have "the ability to enjoy Facebook in a universal way," said spokeswoman Meredith Chin.
Posts from the past
Timeline will divide the profile page into two columns filed with photos, wall posts, social game notifications and other posted activity. The content is organized by date, with the most recent first, but members can jump to older posts by clicking on the Timeline or a list of years on the right side of the page.
The posts date back as long as the member has been on Facebook, which could bring back a flood of memories for some who joined in 2004 when "The Facebook" was only available to students at selected universities. Timeline includes birth dates and other important events, such as high school and college graduation, with space to post a photo for each event.
The page is topped by the member's profile photo and a wide, two-column "cover" photo that's supposed to set the tone for what Zuckerberg called "the story of your life." Timeline's algorithms highlight elements it determines are the most important, but the member can make changes, such as emphasizing certain photos, video or stories.
Chin said members can still control the settings of individual elements so they can be seen by the general public or just friends. And those posts can be set to be viewed by only the member - the digital equivalent of sticking old love letters, concert ticket stubs and other memorabilia into a shoe box hidden in a closet.
But Timeline is just part of the story. Facebook is working with developers to create applications that get members to automatically share what they are doing without having to take the extra step of clicking a "Like" button or writing a wall post.
Share the tunes
This new "Open Graph" system already includes applications like Spotify, an online music service that has been popular in Europe but only recently became available in the United States. By using Facebook to sign on to Spotify, the songs that members play are automatically posted, and their Facebook friends can listen to the same song.
Similarly, the Washington Post introduced a Social Reader app that instantly posts the stories being read by a Facebook member. Other app partners include online video firms Netflix and Hulu.
Zuckerberg said this new breed of apps brings "frictionless sharing" that will lead to a "real-time serendipity" for Facebook members to discover songs or artists, important stories, favorite movies, recipes, top restaurants and more.
If the old profile was like the first few introductory minutes for two people chatting on the street, Zuckerberg said, Timeline will be "the next few hours of a great in-depth, engaging conversation, whether it's with a close friend or someone you just met."
Clearly Facebook is pushing the boundaries of privacy and sharing in ways that will make some members uncomfortable. Even the slightest nips and tucks in the past have caused members to complain and threaten to leave, so this face-lift is expected to spark an even greater hue and cry.
'Stalker's paradise'
The tech site ZDNet called it a "stalker's paradise" and questioned whether it would spark a mass exodus. And frictionless sharing is already drawing critics who fear it could lead to the unwanted distribution of past posts and photos.
Tasso Roumeliotis, chief executive officer of Emeryville's Location Labs, said frictionless sharing could be dangerous for users because of "the unpredictability of the way your data is shared."
"You have to assume it will show up in your Timeline and everyone you're friends with will know what you ate, what you like, what you read, what you smoked," said Roumeliotis, whose company just released a service that lets parents monitor their children's activities on Facebook.
Roumeliotis recommended that Facebook users take the time to go through their Timeline "in excruciating detail" to make sure there's nothing they don't want to be seen in public.
Moreover, a coalition of privacy groups asked the Federal Trade Commission last week to investigate the potential privacy and security risks to consumers. On Friday, Facebook was sued in federal court in San Jose over claims that it secretly tracks its users' Web activity after they log off, Bloomberg reported.
But Facebook has weathered such storms in the past and continued to march forward. Even with the introduction of rival Google's social network Google+, Facebook has grown to 800 million active members worldwide.
"You make a habit of pushing people out of their comfort zone to create a new comfort zone," said futurist Brian Solis, a principal of the San Mateo technology consulting Altimeter Group.
Feeding egos
Timeline may appeal to the powerful human desire to relive and share memories. And Facebook is enhancing its role in what Solis calls "the ego-system."
That's where "you are the center of your universe and Timeline plays brilliantly into this," said Solis, author of an upcoming book, "The End of Business as Usual," that examines how social networking is disrupting the relationships of consumers with business, media and culture.
"Timeline is a wonderful way to tell our stories, how we see ourselves, how we want people to see us and how people see us," he said. "What Facebook is doing is part of the bigger picture of how all things are changing."
But he said that also means Facebook members will have to be even more mindful about how Timeline shapes perceptions about them.
For advertisers, frictionless sharing promises more insights into what someone is thinking than is now possible with simple "Like" or "Share" buttons.
"The coolest part is you can now advertise with those actions," said Justin Kistner, director of social products for Webtrends Inc., a Portland, Ore., Internet analytics firm. For example, he said by looking at what songs people have heard, "You can start taking out ads that can target people who have listened to Coldplay."
E-mail Benny Evangelista at bevangelista@sfchronicle.com.
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