Facebook has also upgraded its application platform so that gaming and media companies can more tightly integrate their content and services with the social networking site.

The new profile design is called Timeline and features a variety of interface and functionality changes geared toward letting users tell the full story of their lives, instead of just their most recent activities, according to the company.

The Timeline will still feature recent updates, but it will also summarize past events and feature the most important ones in a single page people can scroll through.

The Timeline will also provide new interface controls to filter posts according to different criteria, such as seeing only photos or calling up a specific year.

"It has all your stories, all your apps and a new way to express who you are," said Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg during a keynote speech that was webcast from San Francisco.