Facebook: Private messages not appearing on timeline

Facebook private messages from 2009 and earlier are allegedly appearing on users’ public timelines.

Reports first appeared in French newspapers such as Le Monde, and have been reported on by technology website TechCrunch.

In a statement to TechCrunch, a Facebook spokesperson said, “We haven’t seen one report that’s been confirmed [of a private message being exposed]. A lot of the confusion is because before 2009 there were no likes and no comments on wall posts. People went back and forth with wall posts instead of having a conversation [in the comments of single wall post].” (Elaborations by TechCrunch.)

According to Facebook, France is the latest country to receive the social networking site's new 'Timeline' view, which may explain the sudden appearance of these reports.

To confirm whether a post visible on your public timeline was originally a public post or private message, you'll need to find the associated Facebook notification, or notification email. This clearly indicates in the title or subject line whether the message in question was a "wall post" or private message. Note that your own Facebook settings dictate what type of notification emails you receive, and this approach will only work if you still have archived emails dating back to the time of the suspect post.

If you're concerned about what might appear in Facebook's Timeline view, check out our Timeline privacy tips. We also have a Getting started guide for Facebook Timeline if you haven't managed to wrap your head around the new layout yet, or would like a refresher on the basics.