By Doug Stephens<\/p>\n

At today\u2019s F8 Conference in San Francisco, Facebook announced a complete overhaul to the user profile page with the advent of what it\u2019s calling \u201ctimeline\u201d. \u00a0Fast Company\u2019s<\/a> E.B Boyd characterized timeline as \u201ca scrapbook on steroids\u201d of the user\u2019s life.<\/a> Events, relationships, photos and video will populate an individual’s timeline, creating a living memory of their entire life.<\/p>\n

Moreover, within timelines, users will be able to find, share and even purchase digital content such as music, books and movies. \u00a0 So, for example, if a friend of yours likes a movie, the functionality will exist for you to purchase and download that same movie instantly\u00a0from an Apple-esque app store that will reside within Facebook.<\/p>\n

Although Mark Zuckerberg refrained from commenting on the revenue model of this service, it doesn\u2019t take advanced math to calculate the profit potential, especially when each calculation begins with 700,000,000+ users!<\/p>\n

This leads to the broader question of \u201cIf I can buy a song via my timeline or a friends timeline, why not a vacation, a TV or a gym membership?\u201d \u2013 \u201cIf I can buy digital content, why not products and services, like house cleaning or landscaping?\u201d\u00a0 And all from the convenience of my profile page.\u00a0 In other words, rather than looking for the things I want, could the things I want find me<\/em>?<\/p>\n

I, for one, believe the simple answer to all all of this is “yes”. \u00a0The only remaining question is\u00a0when?<\/em> And while the timing may be up for debate, what is certain is that the foundation for a functional, real-time and socially powered marketplace was laid today. \u00a0And for all those retailers who have been questioning the value of Facebook to revenue, you may be about to get your answer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Doug Stephens At today\u2019s F8 Conference in San Francisco, Facebook announced a complete overhaul to the user profile page with the advent of what it\u2019s [\u2026]<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32,1],"tags":[175,67,176,24,118,65,177],"class_list":["post-1462","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-technology","category-uncategorized","tag-f8","tag-facebook","tag-fcommerce","tag-retail","tag-retail-prophet","tag-social-marketing","tag-timeline"],"yoast_head":"\n