In September 2011, Facebook announced Timeline its f8 conference. After a few delays, timeline was released to the public in December. For now, users must activate Timeline in order to see it. A user-controlled roll-out means that adoption will be gradual at first, but brands need to be prepared to engage with early adopters and the rest of the user base when they convert to timeline. This also is an opportunity for brands to help users learn about Timeline and possibly help shape early experiences and behaviors with it. This one-pager provides a quick overview of what timeline means for consumers and brands and includes a few examples for inspiration.

1. Following Change on Facebook – Timeline
What it Means for Users What it Means for Brands How Brands integrate with Users’ Timelines
Profiles evolve to scrapbooks. Users will shift from reporting A new dynamic for brands on Facebook. Brands shift from content Create opportunities for participation with your brand that can
(posts about what’s happening now) to storytelling (curating the creators to experience architects. manifest in interesting ways on users’ Timelines.
content of their lives – past, present, and future).
Develop experiences that provide value to users, help them Think beyond actions on Facebook. Look for opportunities to
Apps and verbs help make users’ Timelines more interesting enhance their Timelines, and engage with brands. express real-world actions online and opportunities on mobile and
and enable sharing and discovery with friends. other digital sites.
Examples
Bring real-world actions and self
expressions to Facebook.
Apps that seamlessly integrate real-world
actions with Timeline are still in development
and will likely emerge in early 2012. These
apps will allow users to frictionlessly share
and show off their real-world activities.
Take Nike+ for example. The current app
requires the user to publish the results of their
Create unique ways to enhance a run and each post has the same format. A
Timeline. future version that takes advantage of
ABC targeted fans of its shows to inform fans Timeline might create a variety of different
of cover photos available for their use. The stories and visuals from the user’s data.
post also educated fans on how to switch to
Timeline.
Users that upload a new cover photo show
off their love for their favorite shows at the
top of their profile and generate a story on
their Timeline.
Help users enhance their Timeline while
sharing and discovering with friends.
Spotify’s Facebook integration provides
frictionless sharing for users by posting the
music they are listening to on Spotify to their
Timeline. Friends can easily discover new
For more information on Timeline, check out: music by listening to it directly from a post.
https://www.facebook.com/about/timeline
Following Change on Facebook, Vol 1, Issue 8 December 2011 © Leo Burnett / Arc Worldwide
Contact: Marina Molenda 312-220-5465 / Twitter: @marina81