chris ennis

What is Facebook Timeline?

I’ve spent some time today after the announcement of Timeline at F8.  When I first saw it, I thought to myself, this is digital scrap booking.  I showed it to my wife earlier and she was amazed that we could go back and see all the posts and comments around the time our son was born.  For her, this was very exciting.  

And as many are writing about the emotional tie we have to our past, there is something else going on here.  I believe Facebook has been working on this about as long as they’ve known that Google is coming after them with Google+.  Timeline is Facebook’s step to weave our history into their fabric before Google+ can.  Its a brilliant move,  because Google is a company that has thrived on freshness, demoting history once it’s no longer relevant.  Just ask my fellow TechStars alums Mocavo, who have built an entire search business off the premise that Google does not like history and tosses it aside when it no longer drives traffic.

Furthermore, who throws away scrap books?  Not many people throw their history away, right?  And now that Facebook echos your life story, chances are you won’t throw it away either.  Robert Scoble talks about the Game of Games, and this is a big move in that game today by Facebook.  I can’t wait for you all to get Timeline and see how awesome it can be.