Quintin Jardine's blog

A friend has just asked me to circulate the following, which has been sent to parents by her daughter’s school. Happy to do so, Pat.

 

Facebook’s Timeline: information for students

What is Facebook’s Timeline?

Timeline is one of Facebook’s biggest developments and changes the way your

Facebook page is displayed. Every post, photograph, comment, status and

other update you have ever posted will feature in scrolling chronological order,

telling a story of your life.

Can I opt out of Timeline?

Timeline will not be optional. Even if you don’t choose it now, your account will

be switched over to Timeline in the near future. You can turn it on early but

you won’t be able to turn it back off.

What you need to know about privacy

Timeline changes your Privacy Settings, including settings for past posts, images, tags and updates.

By default, Facebook chooses Public or Open Privacy Settings for you when you

switch to Timeline. It can be risky to accept Facebook’s default

Public or

Everyone

privacy settings. You might end up sharing personal, private

information with strangers. Click on

Privacy Settings and work through all

options carefully to tidy your Timeline before it goes public. What you think is

Facebook-worthy now might embarrass you in the future. Many universities

and employers now check Facebook profiles to help them choose the right

candidate.

Timeline’s 7 days

Once you switch on Timeline you will have 7 days until it’s published. That gives you one week to check all

Privacy Settings, delete anything you no longer want and tidy your page.

What now?

You can choose to convert to Timeline now or wait until it happens automatically.

Once your Timeline is switched on, use the 7 day preview period to tidy your profile before it is published.

Check the Privacy Settings of everything you’ve ever posted before (Past Posts). Remember that unless you

change Privacy Settings, items you would like to keep Private may become Public.

Summary

1. Learn as much as you can about Timeline before you sign up, especially Privacy Settings

2. Plan how you want your Timeline to look

3. Use the 7 days to delete anything that might embarrass you in the future – how will it look 10 years from

now?

4. Check every Privacy Setting carefully

5. Only once you’ve checked everything will you be ready to publish

Reference

Timeline puts your life in Facebook’s hands

by New Scientist 07/01/2012

Facebook Timeline Looms: What You Need To Know

by PC World 29/01/2012

12 Things You Should Know About Facebook Timeline

by PCMag 25/01/2012

Facebook Security Best Practices

from Sophos