Facebook Introduces ‘Timeline’: The ‘Story’ of Your Life

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At today’s Facebook f8 conference, Mark Zuckerberg took to the stage to announce the biggest overhaul to the social network we’ve seen since 2008: “Timeline,” a new kind of profile.

Zuckerberg introduced the new Facebook feature as “all your stories, all your apps and a new way to express who you are.” Previously your old information published on Facebook disappeared at the bottom of your profile in chronological order, kind of like “falling off a cliff.”

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“With timeline, now you have a home for all the great stories you’ve already shared,” writes Samuel W. Lessin, a product manager at Facebook on the company’s blog. “They don’t just vanish as you add new stuff.”

The new timeline user interface is incredibly visual and unlike any type of profile we’ve seen on a social network.

It starts with a giant cover photo sitting above a person’s profile (Zuck used his dog, Beast). When you scroll down, your Facebook activity is given a heavy visual treatment with photos and videos, something akin to Tumblr.

When you click on a story it’ll double in size, allowing you to explore it more fully. Come across something that you want to look into more later? You can star your favorites or hide stories you don’t want to see.

The new timeline won’t be available for a few weeks, although once it rolls out you’ll be able to either publish it immediately or spend a couple of days curating it, adding and removing content that you want people to see.

Really, really cool stuff, Zuck. “Awesome” might even be in order.

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Chris Gayomali is a reporter at TIME. Find him on Twitter at @chrigz, on Facebook, or on Google+. You can also continue the discussion on TIME’s Facebook page and on Twitter at @TIME.