8 Ways to Spice up Your Facebook Page ...

You can use Timeline's new cover photo (the large photo canvas at the top of your new profile layout) with your profile photo in the bottom left corner to create a unique look that fits your style and personality! Creative users have even designed cover photo/profile picture hybrids to create one big scene between the two photos. But if that's too much work or you don't have the necessary graphic skills, there are plenty of websites with cover photos for you to use like coverphotoz.com and coverize.me. I'm not sure why many users were upset with the new cover photo layout, I feel like the older Facebook profiles were so bland before it! Now I have extra room on my profile page to show off my personality and creativity!

Out of all the ways to spice up your Facebook page, this is by far the coolest thing I came across! Facebook collaborated with some developers to create a free, easy-to-use service that turns your life events, videos, and photos into a heartwarming movie. The Timeline Movie Maker website at timelinemoviemaker.com will create a short movie for you that highlights your greatest and most-liked posts and the end result is actually pretty impressive! After the website processes your Timeline movie and you are finished watching it, you can select a different soundtrack or even change the photos used in the movie. And, of course, you are given the option to share a link with your Facebook friends. What a great keepsake to have of your Internet existence!

Some people may like seeing every single little thing their friends do on Facebook, but not me! That is why I have no need for Facebook's new feature called the "Ticker." Unlike the News Feed, which displays status updates, photos, and other important events, the Ticker shows all of that plus everything else your friends are doing, in real time. This includes things they "like," songs they're listening to, and friends they're adding. Who needs to know all that? The Ticker is integrated into the sidebar on the right side that also has your Facebook chat. On the bottom right of your sidebar, there is an arrow pointing to half a square. Click that to hide your sidebar. When you do that, your Ticker will show up on the right side column next to your News Feed with that same arrow icon above it. Click that to hide the Ticker and when you reopen your Facebook chat, it should be gone!

Along with Facebook's new design comes a ton of new privacy settings that can protect information you'd rather keep private, and prevent third parties from accessing your information. Every time you do minor things like add a friend, write on someone's Timeline, "like" something, or add a Life Event, Facebook logs it into the "Recent Activity" section on your Timeline. If you think this is too intrusive, hover over any story, click the X, and select "Hide all..." I do this a lot just to clean up the look of my profile page because who cares that I like Oreo cookies? Also, there is probably some personal info you'd like to share with some people, but not others. To adjust these settings, click the area below your profile photo, and select "Edit" for each module, then use the drop-down menus to select the audience for any item.

One of the ways to spice up your Facebook page is to show your friends and family where you've been on your travels. To get started, visit your Timeline profile and click on the map below your cover photo. On the next page, click on Add Photos to Map in the upper right-hand corner. A filmstrip will appear with a selection of your photos. You can then begin tagging your Facebook photos with locations. To add a location, just click on a photo and type the photo's location into the drop-down box. It's a great way to show people where you've been in the world and let them see your photos from each of those places!

One of the coolest new features on Facebook Timeline is that you can "feature" certain posts and photos so others can see them higher up on their news feeds and also present them larger on your own profile page. To do this with wall posts, simply hover over the upper right hand corner of the post and then click on the star button that appears. Likewise, to do this with photos, simply open your photos page, hover over the upper right corner of a photo, and click the star button. It's a great way to enlarge some photos over others for people to see when they scroll through your pictures! On the opposite end, you can also hide certain posts and photos from your Timeline by hovering over the upper right corner of a post or photo, selecting the pen button, and choosing "Hide From Timeline."

As the name implies, Life Events are important past moments from your life, and they are a great way to keep an online record of all the moments you want to remember! The number of different life events is huge and includes past jobs, schooling, retirement, engagement and marriage, new children and pets, end of a relationship, deaths of loved ones, buying a new house or car, getting a new roommate, breaking a bone, undergoing surgery, overcoming illness, getting glasses, learning a language, picking up a new hobby, getting your driver's license, receiving an award, or traveling to a new destination. Try to say that sentence all in one breath! To enter a new life event, simply click on "Life Event" in the status update box on your Timeline.

The good part about Timeline is that it's an easy way for you to access all your past Facebook posts, photos, and comments. The bad part about Timeline is that it's an easy way for everyone else to access all your past Facebook posts, photos, and comments! Thus, you should take the time to review your Timeline and make sure that all the embarrassing stuff is hidden. The easiest way to get rid of something is to click on the Activity Log button underneath your cover photo. Activity Log is a granular tool listing every single post and action you've taken on Facebook. When you find something you want to hide, click on the circle to the far right of the post and select "Hidden from Timeline."

As always, may I remind you to be safe when sharing personal information on the Internet. Don't ever post your exact address or phone number if you don't want to become a victim of stalking! Using different ways to spice up your Facebook page shouldn't put you into danger! Also know that excessive posting may lead to your friends hiding you from their News Feeds or deleting you completely. Facebook at your own risk! What do you think of the Facebook Timeline now that we've all had time to adjust to it?

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