Facebook is getting smarter.

And I’m not talking about Timeline, even though I will personally co-sign any feature launch that points directly to the genius of Feltron’s Annual Reports as inspiration.

Facebook has essentially declared battle on two fronts, now, and no one seems to realize it.

The number one reason I hear (anecdotally) for remaining a user of Facebook, even when the person in question actively hates the platform, is that ‘all of my friends are there’. This isn’t an idle reason, because this means that at least some of the following apply:

facebook tracks your friend’s birthdays for you
facebook is the primary invite system for social events
people consider facebook a reliable method of contacting you
a current or future significant other lists you as being in a relationship with them on facebook
you have family members showing pictures of nieces and nephews and cousins on facebook
you hear about important social news on facebook
new coworkers want to find you on facebook
you have dozens, if not hundreds, of photos of yourself on facebook, many of which you did not take

In short, facebook has its hooks into enough of your life, that leaving would have costs. Costs higher than the irritation of the platform.

The thing is, this method of retention has a limit. It’s the same tactic phone companies use - lock you in, and make it hard to leave. Facebook has been flirting with getting so irritating that people leave anyway, and so, in line with the hacker culture they claim, they’ve decided to innovate themselves out of it.

Timeline isn’t about making profiles better. It’s about making facebook your personal history. Something you won’t destroy because it means too much to you, rather than because it’s too much of a hassle.

Facebook is fighting on two fronts, now - you stay because you feel you have to, and you stay because you couldn’t bear to lose all the memories.

My justification for thinking this is simple; this was the first time a facebook announcement reminded me of an Apple announcement. The presentation focused on getting married, and the joy and hope and majesty that that entailed. The video (linked earlier) focused on building a finding love, growing up, building a family. Facebook is attempting to age with its core users, and picking the right chords to do so. In short, this was the same approach Apple used to market FaceTime.

This is why I think facebook is getting smarter. Timeline is the first launch from them in a long time that seems laser focused on the emotional centers and behaviours of the target audience. Facebook is coding nostalgia into the aftereffects of every one of your interactions, both on the site, and on the countless places where you’ll find a Like button, or a Connect authentication.

And it’ll be okay. Because facebook isn’t talking about showing your friends what you did today, anymore. They’re talking about showing your daughter what you did on her birthday, every year, all the way back until the day you met her mom.