Facebook Removes Friend Timeline

Facebook appears to be cutting the fat on the website as of late. The most recent item to disappear from the website was Facebook gifts. It has now been hidden and you need to choose to have the application displayed in your sidebar. In the past day or so, Facebook has apparently removed the friend timeline. Will it be missed? Probably not. Apparently not enough users were actively using the feature.

Does that mean Facebook should have deleted it? I’m not sure but I’ve already received at least one or two emails from people asking why this feature has disappeared. I haven’t reached out to Facebook but I can assume that there wasn’t much demand for the feature. Additionally, if you weren’t obsessive about entering the dates that you meet people, it wasn’t really a useful tool. I have been fairly obsessive with grouping friends but I haven’t been really specific with entering the dates I met them.

The other problem is that friend grouping was by year and for many people as they meet more people thanks to social technology, there is not enough order in a yearly timeline. While I won’t be missing the lost feature, I’m sure a number of people will. Did you use this tool frequently?

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116937 CommentsFacebook+Removes+Friend+Timeline2008-04-20+23%3A48%3A28Nick+O%27Neill »

I wonder if they've demoted Gifts explicitly to 'level the playing field' between Facebook-owned and third-party apps? It was a bit 'unfair' that Gifts used to appear on the right-hand side when third-party apps can't make any use of that space.

Comment by Dan Lester — April 20, 2008 @ 3:29 pm
I wonder if they've demoted Gifts explicitly to 'level the playing field' between Facebook-owned and third-party apps? It was a bit 'unfair' that Gifts used to appear on the right-hand side when third-party apps can't make any use of that space.

Comment by Dan Lester — April 20, 2008 @ 4:29 pm
I didnt know it exsisted 0_0 lol

P.S. Gifts were a huge ripoff. Everyone just switched to the knock-off "free gifts" app.

Comment by Selvo — April 20, 2008 @ 5:34 pm
oh so that what the timeline was meant to be used for.

never used the page but when i started with facebook i was one of these obsessed people who wanted to be precise at the time with my contacts when facebook gave the option e.g. if it was primary ed (Elementry to those facebook american folk) or college i whould state it same with if it were a nightclub student occounter or met on holiday in 2003 in france.

Now having 220 contacts and sometimes applications promoting maaking friends adding to these (therefore friends increase all the time)

1 good thing though all facebook application friends since the friends list feature added and privacy appeared those met through facebook 'friends' I add to the 'PrivFBApps' Friend list i made (and in privacy settings specified contact info for example i prefer this group not to ideally have access e.g. IM or landline phone

Comment by Nigel — April 20, 2008 @ 5:57 pm
Nooooo! Perhaps I'm a stickler, but this was the only reason why I actually filled out my friend details to a "T". I actually enjoyed being able to see who I've met from year to year…

Comment by eric — April 20, 2008 @ 8:13 pm
I didnt know it exsisted 0_0 lol

P.S. Gifts were a huge ripoff. Everyone just switched to the knock-off “free gifts” app.

Comment by Selvo — April 20, 2008 @ 8:34 pm
oh so that what the timeline was meant to be used for.

never used the page but when i started with facebook i was one of these obsessed people who wanted to be precise at the time with my contacts when facebook gave the option e.g. if it was primary ed (Elementry to those facebook american folk) or college i whould state it same with if it were a nightclub student occounter or met on holiday in 2003 in france.

Now having 220 contacts and sometimes applications promoting maaking friends adding to these (therefore friends increase all the time)
1 good thing though all facebook application friends since the friends list feature added and privacy appeared those met through facebook 'friends' I add to the 'PrivFBApps' Friend list i made (and in privacy settings specified contact info for example i prefer this group not to ideally have access e.g. IM or landline phone

Comment by Nigel — April 20, 2008 @ 8:57 pm
Nooooo! Perhaps I'm a stickler, but this was the only reason why I actually filled out my friend details to a “T”. I actually enjoyed being able to see who I've met from year to year…

Comment by eric — April 20, 2008 @ 11:13 pm
i used it all the time

Comment by eliazu — April 21, 2008 @ 12:21 am
Oh no, I really loved the timeline, even if I didn't watch it often I really thought it was fun.

Comment by Giom — April 21, 2008 @ 1:16 am
i used it all the time

Comment by eliazu — April 21, 2008 @ 3:21 am
Oh no, I really loved the timeline, even if I didn't watch it often I really thought it was fun.

Comment by Giom — April 21, 2008 @ 4:16 am
Yes!!!! Why they remove it? I was one that keep track using the dates

Comment by JuanR — April 21, 2008 @ 6:06 am
Yes!!!! Why they remove it? I was one that keep track using the dates

Comment by JuanR — April 21, 2008 @ 9:06 am
First to the lowest part of the "more" section of friends, where almost nobody could see it, and then offline… that is how it goes, isn't it ?

With my app (attached) I have put a link to everyone's social timeline to make it more popular, yeah it was even possible to view the timeline of friends with timeline.php?id=..

What I have on the title page of it was the friend game,

that was a little quiz about who had what hobby of your friends. That is gone now as well!!!!

–> http://www.facebook.com/friend_game.php
Was definately working a few weeks before.

Comment by Chris — April 21, 2008 @ 1:24 pm
First to the lowest part of the “more” section of friends, where almost nobody could see it, and then offline… that is how it goes, isn't it ?
With my app (attached) I have put a link to everyone's social timeline to make it more popular, yeah it was even possible to view the timeline of friends with timeline.php?id=..
What I have on the title page of it was the friend game,
that was a little quiz about who had what hobby of your friends. That is gone now as well!!!!
–> http://www.facebook.com/friend_game.php
Was definately working a few weeks before.

Comment by Chris — April 21, 2008 @ 4:24 pm
im so mad. is there an email address we can send complaints to??

Comment by dustin — April 22, 2008 @ 2:25 pm
[revised]

LOVED this feature.

Removing it was not the right thing to do. Promoting it was.

Since this is relatedâ€¦ A creative way to ask for Friend Details that might have worked: While youâ€™re talking on Facebook Chat, if it sits idle for a while, ask the user what year they met the person they are chatting with, and if they respond, ask them how they metâ€¦ something like that.

Comment by Ivo — May 11, 2008 @ 12:09 pm
[revised]

LOVED this feature.

Removing it was not the right thing to do. Promoting it was.

Since this is relatedâ€¦ A creative way to ask for Friend Details that might have worked: While youâ€™re talking on Facebook Chat, if it sits idle for a while, ask the user what year they met the person they are chatting with, and if they respond, ask them how they metâ€¦ something like that.

Comment by Ivo — May 11, 2008 @ 3:09 pm
Gutted. Really used this all the time – not sure why they removed it. Was great seeing people over the last 30 years…..

Comment by Steve — May 16, 2008 @ 7:13 pm
Gutted. Really used this all the time – not sure why they removed it. Was great seeing people over the last 30 years…..

Comment by Steve — May 16, 2008 @ 6:13 pm
This was literally my favorite thing about facebook.

Comment by tim — May 23, 2008 @ 12:23 am
Argh, I used it a lot as well.. Really disappointed after entering hundreds of years – now for nothing..

Comment by Z — July 29, 2008 @ 11:43 pm
Argh, I used it a lot as well.. Really disappointed after entering hundreds of years – now for nothing..

Comment by Z — July 30, 2008 @ 2:43 am
never got to use it…weird that the guy above me used Z before i could. these comments were dead for 2 months

Comment by Also Z — August 4, 2008 @ 12:45 am
never got to use it…weird that the guy above me used Z before i could. these comments were dead for 2 months

Comment by Also Z — August 4, 2008 @ 3:45 am
i want it back!!

Comment by chris — August 28, 2008 @ 6:44 am
I used it regularly…wish the timeline would come back!

Comment by SeanFromIT — September 24, 2008 @ 10:40 am
I've been desperately searching the timeline and wondering where they hid it.Now everybody: Timeline back! Timeline back!

Comment by Jani Kivisola — September 24, 2008 @ 10:28 pm
Being bruttaly honest i dont like facebook!

Comment by Ps3 — October 4, 2008 @ 11:31 am
Awww… I really miss it! Nice to look through it and remember when you met people and how.

Comment by ss — October 19, 2008 @ 3:51 am
That's what makes me so angry! It's not supposed to be used frequently. It's a nice little morsel of happiness that you reach for in that small, seemingly unimportant moment in which it is needed most. How much energy would it have required to keep it going? That's the question.

Comment by Joel — November 11, 2008 @ 12:22 am
Did having a timeline have such a negative impact that it had to be removed because not enough people were using it? I really don't think so. Rather annoying now that I do want to use such a feature.

Comment by Mike — February 18, 2009 @ 3:02 pm
They need to bring back the timeline… I used it and i thought it was a great feature. I wish I could find out when a certain friend was added also.

Comment by tommy — May 10, 2009 @ 11:56 pm
I also want it back, anyone able to create an app to pull the stored information and recreate the effect?

Comment by Adam — May 28, 2009 @ 7:38 pm
I didnt know it ever exsisted lol
my bad :/

Comment by liaqat — July 26, 2011 @ 6:55 am
Where do we see, that FB feature of those same friends, that of our friend? thanks.

Comment by joy — October 9, 2011 @ 5:48 am

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I wonder if they've demoted Gifts explicitly to 'level the playing field' between Facebook-owned and third-party apps? It was a bit 'unfair' that Gifts used to appear on the right-hand side when third-party apps can't make any use of that space.

Comment by Dan Lester — April 20, 2008 @ 3:29 pm

Comment by Dan Lester — April 20, 2008 @ 4:29 pm

I didnt know it exsisted 0_0 lol

P.S. Gifts were a huge ripoff. Everyone just switched to the knock-off "free gifts" app.

Comment by Selvo — April 20, 2008 @ 5:34 pm

oh so that what the timeline was meant to be used for.

never used the page but when i started with facebook i was one of these obsessed people who wanted to be precise at the time with my contacts when facebook gave the option e.g. if it was primary ed (Elementry to those facebook american folk) or college i whould state it same with if it were a nightclub student occounter or met on holiday in 2003 in france.

Now having 220 contacts and sometimes applications promoting maaking friends adding to these (therefore friends increase all the time)

1 good thing though all facebook application friends since the friends list feature added and privacy appeared those met through facebook 'friends' I add to the 'PrivFBApps' Friend list i made (and in privacy settings specified contact info for example i prefer this group not to ideally have access e.g. IM or landline phone

Comment by Nigel — April 20, 2008 @ 5:57 pm

Nooooo! Perhaps I'm a stickler, but this was the only reason why I actually filled out my friend details to a "T". I actually enjoyed being able to see who I've met from year to year…

Comment by eric — April 20, 2008 @ 8:13 pm

P.S. Gifts were a huge ripoff. Everyone just switched to the knock-off “free gifts” app.

Comment by Selvo — April 20, 2008 @ 8:34 pm

Now having 220 contacts and sometimes applications promoting maaking friends adding to these (therefore friends increase all the time)
1 good thing though all facebook application friends since the friends list feature added and privacy appeared those met through facebook 'friends' I add to the 'PrivFBApps' Friend list i made (and in privacy settings specified contact info for example i prefer this group not to ideally have access e.g. IM or landline phone

Comment by Nigel — April 20, 2008 @ 8:57 pm

Nooooo! Perhaps I'm a stickler, but this was the only reason why I actually filled out my friend details to a “T”. I actually enjoyed being able to see who I've met from year to year…

Comment by eric — April 20, 2008 @ 11:13 pm

i used it all the time

Comment by eliazu — April 21, 2008 @ 12:21 am

Oh no, I really loved the timeline, even if I didn't watch it often I really thought it was fun.

Comment by Giom — April 21, 2008 @ 1:16 am

Comment by eliazu — April 21, 2008 @ 3:21 am

Comment by Giom — April 21, 2008 @ 4:16 am

Yes!!!! Why they remove it? I was one that keep track using the dates

Comment by JuanR — April 21, 2008 @ 6:06 am

Comment by JuanR — April 21, 2008 @ 9:06 am

First to the lowest part of the "more" section of friends, where almost nobody could see it, and then offline… that is how it goes, isn't it ?

With my app (attached) I have put a link to everyone's social timeline to make it more popular, yeah it was even possible to view the timeline of friends with timeline.php?id=..

What I have on the title page of it was the friend game,

that was a little quiz about who had what hobby of your friends. That is gone now as well!!!!

–> http://www.facebook.com/friend_game.php
Was definately working a few weeks before.

Comment by Chris — April 21, 2008 @ 1:24 pm

First to the lowest part of the “more” section of friends, where almost nobody could see it, and then offline… that is how it goes, isn't it ?
With my app (attached) I have put a link to everyone's social timeline to make it more popular, yeah it was even possible to view the timeline of friends with timeline.php?id=..
What I have on the title page of it was the friend game,
that was a little quiz about who had what hobby of your friends. That is gone now as well!!!!
–> http://www.facebook.com/friend_game.php
Was definately working a few weeks before.

Comment by Chris — April 21, 2008 @ 4:24 pm

im so mad. is there an email address we can send complaints to??

Comment by dustin — April 22, 2008 @ 2:25 pm

[revised]

LOVED this feature.

Removing it was not the right thing to do. Promoting it was.

Since this is relatedâ€¦ A creative way to ask for Friend Details that might have worked: While youâ€™re talking on Facebook Chat, if it sits idle for a while, ask the user what year they met the person they are chatting with, and if they respond, ask them how they metâ€¦ something like that.

Comment by Ivo — May 11, 2008 @ 12:09 pm

Comment by Ivo — May 11, 2008 @ 3:09 pm

Gutted. Really used this all the time – not sure why they removed it. Was great seeing people over the last 30 years…..

Comment by Steve — May 16, 2008 @ 7:13 pm

Comment by Steve — May 16, 2008 @ 6:13 pm

This was literally my favorite thing about facebook.

Comment by tim — May 23, 2008 @ 12:23 am

Argh, I used it a lot as well.. Really disappointed after entering hundreds of years – now for nothing..

Comment by Z — July 29, 2008 @ 11:43 pm

Comment by Z — July 30, 2008 @ 2:43 am

never got to use it…weird that the guy above me used Z before i could. these comments were dead for 2 months

Comment by Also Z — August 4, 2008 @ 12:45 am

Comment by Also Z — August 4, 2008 @ 3:45 am

i want it back!!

Comment by chris — August 28, 2008 @ 6:44 am

I used it regularly…wish the timeline would come back!

Comment by SeanFromIT — September 24, 2008 @ 10:40 am

I've been desperately searching the timeline and wondering where they hid it.Now everybody: Timeline back! Timeline back!

Comment by Jani Kivisola — September 24, 2008 @ 10:28 pm

Being bruttaly honest i dont like facebook!

Comment by Ps3 — October 4, 2008 @ 11:31 am

Awww… I really miss it! Nice to look through it and remember when you met people and how.

Comment by ss — October 19, 2008 @ 3:51 am

That's what makes me so angry! It's not supposed to be used frequently. It's a nice little morsel of happiness that you reach for in that small, seemingly unimportant moment in which it is needed most. How much energy would it have required to keep it going? That's the question.

Comment by Joel — November 11, 2008 @ 12:22 am

Did having a timeline have such a negative impact that it had to be removed because not enough people were using it? I really don't think so. Rather annoying now that I do want to use such a feature.

Comment by Mike — February 18, 2009 @ 3:02 pm

They need to bring back the timeline… I used it and i thought it was a great feature. I wish I could find out when a certain friend was added also.

Comment by tommy — May 10, 2009 @ 11:56 pm

I also want it back, anyone able to create an app to pull the stored information and recreate the effect?

Comment by Adam — May 28, 2009 @ 7:38 pm

I didnt know it ever exsisted lol
my bad :/

Comment by liaqat — July 26, 2011 @ 6:55 am

Where do we see, that FB feature of those same friends, that of our friend? thanks.

Comment by joy — October 9, 2011 @ 5:48 am

Facebook Removes Friend Timeline

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Follow AllFacebook

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Social Media Jobs

Let your next job find you!

Featured Company

Jobs of the Day

Digital Strategist

Digital/Social Media Manager - Entertainment

Social Media Coordinator

See all jobs

Upcoming Events

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