Protect yourself from Facebook Timeline

Don't waste your money

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Photographer: Ariana McLaughlin/CNN

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Posted: 02/06/2012

Like it or not, a big change is coming to your Facebook page over the next few weeks, if it hasn't happened already.

Its called Facebook's "Timeline" and you'll need to learn more about it, or you may be embarrassed by what pops up for others to see.

The Timeline is part of the series of changes rolled out by founder Mark Zuckerberg late last year. Facebook's new ticker, updated news feed and timeline were designed to make the social network easier to use.

But most users held off on changing to a Timeline because they liked things just the way they were. But it's no longer optional.

Record of Everything You've Posted

So over the next few weeks, all of Facebook's 800 million members will see their profile page become a Timeline.

The Timeline is a record of everything you've posted since you joined Facebook, which unless you edit it, will include those embarrassing posts you made two years ago after that crazy party.

Facebook security expert Honi Hertsenberg says these changes make it more important than ever to edit and set limits on your page.

"The default settings are set so that anyone who searches for your page is going to see all your personal information," she said.

The good news is there are three things you can to to protect yourself:

    -You should rearrange and delete posts from Timeline you don't like

    -You should also limit who sees it.

    -And you will have seven days to play with your Timeline and work on it before it goes "live."

What if you don't want it?

Facebook will alert you before your profile page switches to a Timeline. But even if you haven't logged onto Facebook in months, the change is coming. The only way to avoid it is to delete your account.

So don't ignore it: Timeline is coming, and there's no stopping it now.

As always don't waste your money.
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