Facebook to Track, Store Your Life Story Online

(from CBSNews.com) – Facebook users are complaining about changes to the site, but get used to it: The social networking giant says more big changes are coming.

CBS News correspondent John Blackstone reports that, at a conference in San Francisco, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg announced it will soon be a place where friends can do much more than share photos. They will be able to share almost every part of their lives. In addition, music, movies, TV and news are expected to be shared on the site soon, as well.

Brian Cooley, CNET* editor, says it means if he’s watching a Netflix movie on his iPad, Facebook will automatically tell his friends. They will be able to watch what he’s watching, listen to what he’s listening to — and make Facebook even more dominant. [*CNET is a tech media website that publishes news articles, blogs, and podcasts on technology and consumer electronics. It was founded in 1993, and was acquired by CBS in 2008.]

Cooley said, “They’re still kind of a new enterprise. So they need new, big things to finally vanquish Google which, you know, is on their list. To put the AOLs and the Yahoos of the world out of our minds. They want to become, basically, the only site we use.”

Facebook is aiming at nothing short of becoming a digital diary capable of documenting and storing almost every detail of a user’s life — forever. It’s called Timeline and, as Zuckerberg said at the conference, “It’s the story of your life.”

Timeline, Blackstone reported, also means Facebook will know even more about its users and all their friends.

Cooley said, “That’s gold to advertisers. They love that stuff.”

Facebook says it has 800 million users — a huge potential market that makes Facebook an irresistible partner for almost anybody selling any thing.

Zuckerberg said, “Social networks are going to be a ubiquitous tool used by billions of people around the world to stay connected every day.”

Facebook says it will phase in the Timeline feature over several weeks, so users can get accustomed to just how much of their entire lives they want to share.