This is fantastic, but actually goes much deeper than social media timelines. Think about all types of social information available to us. My granddad literally grasps at a past that doesn't exist. He has no pictures and maybe a few letters. So little information of a beginning lost to time forever. Our generation has pictures, video, blogs, twitter, etc. the list could go on forever. One of my friends just adopted a kid and the girls entire life is recorded in vine-like video clips on her iPhone. What would it be like to be a 100 years old with a large portion of your first year recorded?

The function of all of this is for improved memory. Technology enhances human memory. Whenever we have the technological ability to collect information about our own lives, we do it. I suspect that children in the 2050s will have almost all relevant information about their lives recorded in some way, shape, or form. Most likely in quantitative and qualitative ways that don't currently exist.

If there is an ultimate goal to this technological progress it can best be represented in attempting to have a complete and unified history of self and consciousness. And it will all be in the Global Brain.