New Zealand users are first to get access to Facebook's new Timeline
The first country to get Facebook's brand-new Timeline feature will be . . . New Zealand. "The rest of the world will be made to wait," crows the New Zealand Herald today.
NZ gets Timeline first
Timeline is an expanded profile that can display content the way users want to - rather than being bound by the standard Wall post approach.
New Zealand users, starting later today, will be able to access the new feature that Facebook says will give more creative control over how their content is displayed.
The unusual step of giving Kiwis the first chance to play with Timeline has been taken to gauge feedback from consumers.
"We chose New Zealand to be first - and I'll probably get in trouble for saying this - primarily because it is an English-speaking country," said Facebook product manager Sam Lessin. The country has a population of 4.4 million, less than Scotland.
Lessin added, "It's far away from our data centres,so we can monitor speed and performance."
He said there were no dates set for rolling -out for Timeline into other countries.
"We're definitely taking our time with this one," he told the NZ Herald.. "It will give people a chance to get excited about what they can do with it".
Lessin said Timeline "was not like you are your last five posts . . . Timeline lets you build a story. You can see where everything is, and change it at will".
Friends granted access to your Timeline can delve back in time and see what you were up to last year, or the year before - as much as you want to share.
Timeline lets users dictate which parts of their pages can be viewed by different groups of friends, family or workmates.