It seems that Facebook is quietly rolling out some changes to the layout and management of timelines this week, after users in New Zealand have reported new features and options appearing at the top of their profiles. Some of these modifications had been spotted towards the end of 2012, such as a row of options at the top of the page beneath your cover photo, and the disappearance of “Maps” [ no, this has nothing to do with Apple 😉 ] and thumbnail images, but there are further changes being discovered by users.
So what else is new, and what does it all look like? This picture from Mashable highlights the new options beneath a banner picture:
But what is more interesting is the new DIY approach of which boxes on the right-hand side of your Timeline appear, and in what order. This is called the ‘Collections Manager’, and the whole concept harks back to the earlier ‘Wall’ layout of user profiles. Posts from friends are now also pushed to the left-hand side of the Timeline, as one contributor at TheNextWeb demonstrated:
Reaction to the changes seems to be positive, with many people commenting that the previous (or in the case of most people, current) layout was a little cluttered. However, there are also those who think that Facebook should be focussing on delivering more of their friends’ content to the now heavily filtered News Feed, instead of revamping the content that you already see.
For a more in-depth look at the update, check out the articles on TheNextWeb and Mashable. Next Tuesday (January 15th) also sees the first Facebook press event of 2013. It’s unclear what is to be showcased, with invitations simply saying “Come and see what we’re building”.
Has your Timeline changed over to the new version? What are your first impressions? We’d also like to hear if you have any ideas as to what Facebook will be talking about next week. Please share your views with the rest of the readers by leaving a comment below.