So Dig Journalism

How often do you check your Facebook profile, not your wall, but your profile?

My husband can’t remember the last time he checked his profile. This evening he clicked on it and found he had Timeline. It was already public, which means he missed his 7-days grace period to edit and curate his Timeline.

He didn’t mind. He sat there and went through his Timeline laughing at posts and pictures. Memories he had forgotten came flashing back.

He found posts and tags from friends with whom he’s no longer friends.

That unexpected post from a former friend is exactly why you need to make sure you take advantage of your grace period before your Timeline is public. Luckily the post, which was a photo album that tagged him, isn’t anything he doesn’t want to remember, and doesn’t mind it being seen by others.

You may not feel this way about some of these posts your Timeline brings back to life.

Or perhaps you don’t mind these forgotten posts to be seen by some friends, but only some of your friends. You can change who can view this post by clicking on the current icon that represents how it was shared, such as “public” or “friends of friends.” Now with Facebook’s “custom” settings you can even make your posts visible to only certain people.

If you're like my husband and missed out on the 7-day grace period, or just didn't have the time to edit it, don't worry because you can edit Timeline at any time public or not. You can change your mind and add more people to your your custom posts, or even change back to public, or whatnot.

Timeline is fun. Timeline does make Facebook the scrapbook of your life. It can bring back wonderful and fun memories.

While you’re having fun with Timeline don’t forget to be critical of it as well. This is your life. Protect it.