Facebook has sparked an outcry after announcing users will have just seven days to add or remove things from their Timeline before the new, controversial feature goes public.
This latest change to Facebook will allow people to access easily their friends' status updates and photographs, in a far more visual way, from as far back as 2004 when Facebook was founded.
The website insists the change does not affect users' privacy. It has been greeted with anger and negativity nonetheless, with users complaining about being forced to change their profiles and how much of their information Facebook will make accessible.
Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg shows off the new Timeline in San Francisco, California.
The seven-day period before the new Timeline goes live allows users to remove any aspects of their profile that they may regret posting on their page since they first joined Facebook.
There will be what Facebook calls an "activity log" which will allow people to apply a specific privacy setting to each post that is published on their page.
This means that people can decide whether all or just some of their friends can see a particular photograph, for example.
A Facebook spokeswoman said: "It will show you all of your posts and activity - from today back to when you first started using Facebook.
The new Timeline has not received a happy welcome so far
"Only you can see your activity log. You can use it to easily review and choose who sees what you've shared on your Timeline."
Changes to Facebook always provoke controversy and the Timeline is no exception.
Users have been able to opt in to the new feature since December 15, and so far reviews have not been encouraging.
MSNBC ran a poll which showed that 51.29% of Facebook users are worried about the Timeline.
Just 7.96% liked it, while 8.39% admitted they would get used to it.
Nick PicklesIf the site was serious about protecting users' privacy, the new change would give people an option to remove everything from their timeline with one click. Instead you have just seven days to review everything you've ever shared, post by post.
The remaining 32.36% said they did not even know why they were still on Facebook.
The Timeline may make people more aware of what they post, said Paul Bradshaw, visiting professor of online journalism at City University London.
He said: "I think it taps into a wider issue that people make assumptions when they use a social media website regarding who can see what they're putting up there."
As for privacy concerns, Mr Bradshaw added: "People need to act accordingly."
Josh March, chief executive of Conversocial, a social customer service software company, said he believes that, despite initial protestations, people will soon get used to the latest change on Facebook.
He said people were initially angry about the introduction of the Facebook news feed, but it went on to become "the backbone of Facebook's success".
"What the Timeline does is it works out what is most interesting in someone's timeline," he said.
"Instead of showing everything, it highlights the most interesting aspects of someone's profile.
"It gives you more control than you have right now as you can choose to hide stuff."
In terms of privacy, Mr March said that people have no reason to have concerns.
He added: "People always worry about this sort of thing but it's not showing people what they can't already see."
Nick Pickles, director of privacy at civil liberties group Big Brother Watch, said: "While privacy settings don't change, users may be very surprised to see what is publicly visible on their timeline.
"If the site was serious about protecting users' privacy, the new change would give people an option to remove everything from their timeline with one click.
"Instead you have just seven days to review everything you've ever shared, post by post."
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