There is one that that is given in the world of Facebook and that is that Facebook changes all the time. The changes keep me on my toes that's for sure.  The latest set of changes to the profile make it easier for people to see a “timeline” of your posts.  Since Facebook is in the business of selling bits of demographic information to advertisers – they are hoping that you will become enchanted enough with the new format to go back and fill in the missing bits.  Even if you don't want your complete personal history on Facebook (I'm guessing that those of us older than 20 will not be going back and filling out our lives on Facebook), now is a good time to check your Facebook settings and update your profile.

Here are three things you should look at in the next few weeks:

1. Check your privacy settings and make sure that they are still as you want them to be.  I recommend having your updates spread as wide as possible generally (remember that you can limit specific updates so they only show on timelines of certain people) – the facebook changes make this easier to do) but not to have personal information (phone numbers, birth year, home address) available via Facebook.  The settings tend to revert when Facebook does major changes so it makes sense to check them.

2. Check your e-mail notification preferences to only receive notifications that are helpful to you, purge old friends and deactivate unused apps, games, etc.

3.  Finally (and yes, I'm saving the best for last)  Make sure that your profile is 100% complete and that it represents the current incarnation of your business.  Is your description correct?  Does the employment section link to your fan page?  Does your description use your keywords?

Want to learn more?  I'm going to be covering this in depth at my fast start day in Houston on October 15 and during my virtual facebook and linked in training on November 8.