Kiwis Become Facebook Guinea Pigs

Image: Facebook

When it comes to technology and pop culture, New Zealanders often have to wait months for new products to hit their shores. But not for its two million Facebook users: As of yesterday, the country was the first to have the new Timeline format rolled out.

Facebook announced on its blog Tuesday that the Timeline, first unveiled in September, would be rolled out in New Zealand ahead of the rest of the world. TechCrunch’s Josh Constine opines the South Pacific nation was selected because of its use of English and relative disconnection from the rest of the user base.

The Timeline radically changes the Facebook profile page, making it easier to access past content and to curate look and feel. TechCrunch reports New Zealand users have seven days to review and change their Timeline before it’s published to friends.

Alistair Kwun, an Auckland-based communications professional and social-media advocate, said he had not been given prior warning of the changes, aside from stories in local news websites. “Luckily, I knew it was happening,” he wrote in a Facebook chat. “Otherwise I wud have thought WTF.”

Kwun says he originally signed up for the beta version of Timeline, but found it buggy and switched to the old format. But he’s back with Timeline now, and says it has a friendlier feel, but that it also may take some adjustment for users. “It's harder to find past posts. I think users have become accustomed to viewing content in chronological order in portrait view. One needs to curve the eyes now to the left and right now to track content.”

But in general New Zealanders seem to have responded with collective “meh” to the changes, with just over half of respondents to a poll on the news website Stuff.co.nz clicking “Sigh, I can’t be bothered ‘curating’ my feed.”

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