Facebook Timeline goes live for all, gives you 7 days to hide your shady past

Facebook’s much-ballyhooed Timeline feature, which gives you a look at your entire history on the popular social service, has gone live for everyone in the world who wants it, the company announced this morning.

Timeline was announced in September on stage at the f8 conference, and it might be the most ambitious feature Facebook has introduced since the News Feed. The feature exchanges your profile page for a scrapbook-inspired list of your history on Facebook, telling the story of your life in a collection of photos, status updates and more.

A week ago we heard that Facebook had nearly 1 million people already using Timeline and that the feature was being rolled out in New Zealand. But now everyone who wants a go can jump in. To turn on Timeline, go to the Introducing Timeline page and click the green “Get It Now” button at the bottom of the screen.

If you’re worried about friends looking through your Timeline and seeing some not-so-appealing status updates from your past, note that Facebook gives you a 7-day “review period.” You can delete or hide anything on the Timeline before anyone else gets a peek, so no one sees pictures from the time you got married, then divorced 72 days later. On the opposite end of the spectrum, you can also highlight special occasions like graduating or getting a job.

Timeline also gives you access to a new Activity Log, which lets you see all your posts and activity since you started on Facebook in a streamlined fashion. You are the only person who can see your activity log. From the Activity Log, you can also hide, delete or feature posts and photos.

Check out the video explaining Timeline and the 7-day preview process below: