PHOTOS

: Facebook is changing fast. Are you up to date? The Facebook that we started with back in 2004 is not the same one that we use today. Neither is the competition with the emergence of other social media platforms like Google Plus and Twitter. Things are about to change once more for Mark Zuckerberg’s popular and hugely successful media platform. With news of a major Facebook overhaul on the horizon (along with a <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/30/technology/facebook-agrees-to-ftc-settlement-on-privacy.html?_r=2" target="_blank">FTC</a> privacy issue settlement), we decided to hip you to six of the latest updates to the ever-changing social media platform. —Hajj Flemings

: <ul> <li>Timeline Profiles</li> </ul> What are Timelines? According to Facebook, “Your timeline is your collection of top photos, stories and life events.” The standard Facebook profile displays the latest information that a user has posted, but doesn’t highlight older content that’s become buried in your feed. Some of the new features of Timeline include, adding “life events,” jumping to the past, and sharing specific stories or posts you want to highlight. Designed by <a href="http://twitter.com/#!/feltron" target="_blank">Nick Felton</a>, Timeline is a more visual and organized way to display your content.

: <ul> <li>Smart Lists</li> </ul> Smart lists allows you to filter and organize your friends into categories. Some users may have noticed that Facebook has generated a few lists to get you started: “Close Friends,” “Acquaintances” and “Restricted.” The restricted list enables you to allow people on that list to see your public content. The other lists that are automatically generated by Facebook are high school, colleges, and location. You also have the ability to create self-generated list.

: <ul> <li>Tag Approvals</li> </ul> Tag approvals allow users to mitigate spamish content on their wall from your “friends” without blocking them from posting to your wall. This feature gives you the option to accept or reject photos that post to your wall before they appear in your activity stream.

: <ul> <li>Customize Status Updates</li> </ul> When you post updates to your wall you can add the location. Adding the location can contextually enhance your post and provide more meaning. You can identify who can view the update as well through the use of options that include public list, list generated by Facebook or a self-generated list that you create.

: <ul> <li>Subscribe Button</li> </ul> The <a href="https://www.facebook.com/about/subscribe" target="_blank">subscribe button</a> gives people the ability to subscribe to your Facebook activity/feed like they do a blog. Facebook enables you to tweak the content that you see. For instance you can subscribe to celebrities who are not your friends and you can determine how much content you see (all, most, or important updates). The ability to filter the frequency of the content allows you to manage the activity flow.

: <ul> <li>News Feed Sorting Options</li> </ul> Facebook has gone back to the old news feed format because of user feedback and <a href="https://blog.facebook.com/blog.php?post=10150286921207131" target="_blank">restored</a> the chronological news feed display option. The new feature that has been added give you the ability to sort your news two different ways: (1) Recent Stories First, where stories are sorted in the direct order they are posted and (2) Highlighted Stories First, where stories will appear at the top of your news feed and will be highlighted. <ul> <li>How do you like the latest Facebook updates?</li> </ul>