Not a few users of social networking site Facebook are worried about Timeline, the upcoming feature that displays a user's past status updates and photos.
An informal survey of 4,110 respondents by computer security firm Sophos showed more than half are "worried" over Timeline, which will soon become compulsory.
"We asked over 4,000 Facebook users what they thought of the new Timeline feature, and the response was overwhelming negative," Sophos senior technology consultant Graham Cluley said in a blog post.
Sophos said 51.29 percent of the respondents indicated "The Facebook Timeline worries me," while 32.36 percent said "I don't know why I'm still on Facebook."
In contrast, only 7.96 percent said "I like it" while 8.39 percent said "I guess Ill get used to it."
Cluley said that while Sophos cannot claim the poll was scientific, "nevertheless, it does seem to me that there are some genuine reasons to pause before embracing the Facebook Timeline as an entirely positive thing."
He also noted every Facebook account will be updated with the new-look profile, presenting a scrapbook of all of your past status updates and photographs, in the next few weeks.
For those to lazy to keep their Timeline filled with information about their activities, "Facebook apps are going to do that job for you," he added.
He noted Spotify defaults to filling a Facebook user's Timeline with details of the last song he or she listened to.
"Other 'frictionless' Facebook apps will share newspaper articles you just read online or buy movie tickets, all without you having to press the 'Share' or 'Like' button," he added.
Cluley voiced concerns such easy sharing of one's personal moments may make it easier for identity thieves to put together a profile about an individual.
"That's all information which could be put to a nefarious use," he said.
Cluley said he was "scared" upon learning of how much about his own life he shared on Facebook through his past status updates.
He said he ended up downloading over 48MB of photos and status updates, and permanently deleting his account.
"And it scared me. Previously Facebook had managed to keep my history of interactions with it out of my sight, but now it was there for me to see. And combined with the challenge I felt in keeping up-to-speed on Facebook's morphing privacy settings I knew it was time to go," he said.
But he added he does not expect Facebook Timeline to be the catalyst for many people to leave.
He said that while Facebook revamped its site in the past, many of its users grumbled but did not stop the site's popularity from growing. — TJD, GMA News
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Topic: The Danger of Facebook Timeline Feature (Read 784 times)