What's wrong with Facebook timeline?

Facebook timeline is basically a new way of displaying the information you have posted on the social networking website. Up until now only the most recent messages, comments, status changes, photos and other wall postings could be viewed. You could see the last dozen or so and then there was a link at the bottom of the page to get another dozen. It was possible to go back a week or even a month, but it wasn't practical to go back any farther and see what had been posted. Timeline lets you browse your whole Facebook history so you can view anything from any time since you joined the service. What's wrong with that?

It's actually a nice idea in theory and the timeline is able to chart and document every major event in your life and Facebook becomes a sort of digital diary. It could become a valuable resource that you could look back on in years to come. Or maybe not.

The problem is that there is too much on Facebook that in years to come you will wish wasn't there. Just think, you meet the love of your life and plan to settle down and get married. Your partner will be able to browse your Facebook timeline and see every previous partner you ever had, what you did, where you went, the fun you had and so on. We all know our husband/wife had previous relationships, but it's best not to think about them. We don't want it fully documented in photos, comments and so on for all to see on Facebook.

That's just one example, and there are many more. It's not a good idea to post comments about your employer on Facebook in case the management gets to see them and doesn't approve. If you leave a job you aren't happy with you might then be tempted to say what an awful place it was to work and how you're glad you got out. A potential employer might browse your timeline and see comments like this and they might not want to take on someone that posts negative comments about the company they work for.

And every drunken party, holiday, bad haircut or fashion faux pas will be documented and stored by Facebook for everyone to see. In a few years time you may have completely changed, especially if you are young and we all change a lot from teens to 20s. You might regret all those postings in five years time.

A story in the Telegraph reports that a survey of 4,000 Facebook members found that only 8% liked the upcoming compulsory change to the timeline view, and 51% were worried by it. People have a short time in which to delete anything they don't want made public.

I would prefer a facility to delete all postings over a certain age, such as one or two years. Facebook is useful, but I would rather it displayed current content rather than things I posted years ago that might be embarrassing today. There isn't a facility to do this and you would have to do it manually. It would be a pain if you post a lot on Facebook, but it's the only way. I think I might start having a monthly clearout session where I delete everything over two years old and keep everything current.