Evidently Facebook is to force something called Timeline on its users. This will allow others to quickly obtain information on any Facebook user by searching accurately via date rather than by haphazardly searching through endless data. Many subscribers, frightened of the embarrassment that a revelation of past indiscretions will cause, are now actively trying to persuade the owners of Facebook to scrap Timeline.

Two things occur to me here. Firstly, why would anybody (or at least anybody over the age of adolescence and/or with half a brain) want to post revealing photographs of themselves on Facebook for all to see? Does it not occur to them that not everybody is going to be impressed by photographs showing them smashed out of their brains whilst in a compromising position with somebody they shouldn’t be with?

Many employers, wishing to take on somebody under the age of 30, would probably have a good scan of Facebook just to make sure that they are appointing the right person. I imagine that a photograph of that person sat naked on a photocopier whilst throwing up over his/her friends at the previous employer’s Christmas party is hardly going to be an inducement to sign them up.

Secondly, I’ve always thought that there is a conceit in Facebook users thinking that anybody could really give a damn about what they do in their spare time. Yes, we all like a drink. Yes, we all like a laugh and yes, we all do silly things from time to time. So what? You’ve got a life and you like to have fun. Excellent, just get on with it and stop boring the pants off the rest of us.

We’ve all done daft things in our lives; things that we may be embarrassed by or ashamed of, things that are best forgotten and left hidden in the mists of time. The last thing we’d want (or so you’d think) is for these things to be revealed to all and sundry. Frankly, if anybody is big-headed or stupid enough to willingly post details of their indiscretions on the worldwide web they deserve everything they get.