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Re: Facebook Timeline

#161

Post by thomasgerbe »

mattdeboard wrote: post #155
bricestacey wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I experienced this when I first tried out online dating. One of my first dates felt more like our 3rd or 4th so it really was hard to break the ice.

I took this to mean that before you met in real life, you researched the other person so intently you felt like you'd spent 2-3 evenings together (talking) already? Is that what you meant? I dunno, in my experience OKCupid profiles (the best available online dating site the last time I was single) were just a thin veneer of bullshit designed to sell only the best qualities. Nothing wrong with that per se but I never…

"In my experience OKCupid profiles (the best available online dating site the last time I was single) were just a thin veneer of bullshit designed to sell only the best qualities."

The same could be said about meeting people in real life.

Re: Facebook Timeline

#162

Post by mikebracco »

Raphael wrote: post #102
Pheter wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I often receive friend requests from people who I have recently met through work, going out, friends of friends, etc. It seems like it would be a good way for these people who know a little bit about me to quickly learn a little more about me.

The tragedy is that online profiles are becoming so efficient at conveying personal stories that there's nothing left to talk about face to face. "I had a wonderful time at Yellowsto--" "I know."

I often have to have about 15 minutes of background talk when I meet someone about stuff I already know about them because I Googled them. Certainly I have to pretend I don't know all these things for the sake of not being awkward. :)

Re: Facebook Timeline

#163

Post by yesimahuman »

juiceandjuice wrote: post #76
mrshoe wrote: post #29

Does anyone here remember when Facebook had this feature back in 2004/2005? It was a little simpler, but exactly the same idea. They killed it a long time ago, but I guess they just decided to bring it back. The dude in the video has sure aged and accomplished an impressive amount in Facebook's 7 year history.

Facebook used to be more of a social network for finding people you don't know, and now it's a social network for the people you know. I really miss searching through profiles. I made a lot of friends randomly that way at my school. I'd click on a band name, a movie, a person or anything, find all the people that liked that band, find out a person was really awesome, hang out with them, etc... Then you could find peo…

I've just experienced how a year or so of hardcore meeting people in college soon turns into years of participating in cliques. I don't think they've neglected the new user experience but to keep you around for long periods of time they have to provide lasting value.

Re: Facebook Timeline

#165

Post by vhsd1988 »

So do they want us to put up every potentially embarrassing part of our life up there as well, or I guess not? This Timeline feature is about as Stepford as you can get...

Re: Facebook Timeline

#166

Post by zarify »

Their intro ad is incredibly similar to Google's ad they ran a while back documenting a kid's life story. I guess time will tell on the transitory nature of information on th Internet.

Also I loved how all his stuff only had three likes. He must have pricks for friends I only a handful of people liked his daughter saying 'dada' ;)

Re: Facebook Timeline

#167

Post by codeup »

kwamenum86 wrote: post #64

I've heard a lot of people on HN call Facebook a toy, which at some point was probably a fair criticism. This is the first thing I've seen from Facebook in a long time that truly feels like important and worthwhile work.

"truly feels like important and worthwhile work"

Would you please care explaining why?

Re: Facebook Timeline

#168

Post by orijing »

orijing wrote: post #109
erikpukinskis wrote: post #60

How wide are Facebook's designers' screens? My laptop is 1280 pixels wide and I can't see the full width of this page. Please cap your designs at 1000 pixels.

It should fit in 980 pixels or so, without the chat bar

Why the downvotes? I am an engineer at Facebook who worked on parts of Timeline. That was posted from my phone, but I just tried it and it definitely fits under 1000 pixels if you close the chat sidebar.

Re: Facebook Timeline

#169

Post by mkjones »

brown9-2 wrote: post #99
willidiots wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think this is more geared towards the narcissist in all of us. You read your own timeline, not your workmates'.

I hate to be a tin foil hat on this, but it really seems like a perfect way to get people to turn over even more personal/private information (especially the kinds they don't usually post in a day-to-day status update, like date of graduation, age, schools, etc) for Facebook to sell to advertisers.

Facebook doesn't sell anyone's data to advertisers - we let advertisers target ads based on certain criteria. I'm curious what makes you think we sell people's data? (I'm an engineer at Facebook.)

Re: Facebook Timeline

#170

Post by mkjones »

toyg wrote: post #80

I can't help but think of bitrot. You spend an afternoon "scrapbooking" in real life, and you get something that your grand-grandsons might, one day, inherit and read in awe. You spend an afternoon scrapbooking on FB, and in ten years FB goes bust or whatever (Geocities, anyone?), and you've got nothing. I guess the real test will be my wife -- she loves scrapbooking. (this, and the first time I went through the pres…

For what it's worth, you can download your Facebook data here: https://www.facebook.com/settings?tab=account (see "download your data" at the bottom).
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