We're not fans of the concept that Facebook launching a feature means that startups in the vertical are going to die. Facebook has a long list of having no impact when they enter a space. Quora didn't die from Facebook Questions, Facebook gave up on deals after folks speculated they would crush Groupon and Foursquare seems to be doing just fine since Facebook enabled check ins.

So, will these timeline startups thrive or fold? Well, we're not sure there is a large market for timelines. It feels like a niche behavior that isn't very monetizable nor critical part of people's lives.

That being said, it's going to be a depressing week for timeline startups like Memolane, Dipity and Lifepath.me [ see our story ].

What should they do? Ignore Facebook and focus like lasers and listen to Facebook and their users, and out-hustle Facebook, which is going to forget they added this feature in nine months and shut it down in 12-24 months in all likelihood anyway.

LAUNCH has contacted these startups for comment regarding Facebook's entrance into the timeline vertical. We will update this story if we receive a response.

SCREENSHOTS

Memolane is another site in the timeline niche that could be effected by the new Facebook launch.

Lifepath.me is nearly dead now that Dustin Curtis has put the site up for sale on eBay, starting bid, $10K.