I’m sure you have heard and seen a few changes for Facebook this past week. Here is what has changed, and how it affects your Facebook Page and marketing.
Top Stories and Most Recent have been replaced by single News Feed.
All your news will be in one stream, with the most “interesting” stories at the top. If you don’t check Facebook that often, you will see Top Stories first, which are marked by a blue corner.
If you check Facebook more frequently, you’ll see most recent stories first.
Facebook has given users the power to “rank” items in the News Feed based on what you like.
This is where is where it really affects Business Pages.
It used to be, that the News Feed items with the most engagement, would get preference in the News Feed, over something that say had no comments or Likes.
Now that no longer matters.
Photo’s are bigger coming through the News Feed.
New bigger photos and album layout give photos a better viewing experience.
The Subscribe Button
The subscribe function, adds a new tool to facebook personal profiles, that lets you share updates and content that are marked public. It lets you keep some things private, and other things public. When you post something, a link, or photo, you have the option of marking it “public” or for “friends”
It is geared toward individuals and public figures to connect with others, allowing you to share some things with publicly, while keeping personal things private.
People can subscribe to your updates, if they are not your friend, and they will get any public updates you make.
Since Facebook limits you to 4000 friends, this seems like a a way to connect with a lot of other people without having to add them as a friend.
It does not replace the Business Pages, nor is for businesses to set up personal Facebook Profiles. It seems like a better way to connect with other people, like business colleagues, without having to friend everyone.
Learn more about subscriptions here.
The Ticker
This is a Live Feed on the right side of your home page with real-time updates as they are posted.
Friend Lists
When you friend someone, there is a friend button on their profile that has options for categorizing friends as a “close friend” or “acquaintances”
Changes for Facebook Pages
Vanity Urls – you no longer need 25 Likes on a Business Page in order to have a custom URL for your Page.
Friend Activity Feed
There is a feed on the left side of the page so people can see how their friends interact with your page.
Likes
Liking content inside Facebook, photos, posts etc, no longer get published to your wall or News Feed.
Liking a Brand/Business Page does post an update to your wall and Newsfeed.
Liking a website or page outside of Facebook, will post to your Wall and News Feed.
The Like button, will be less of a factor as well as Facebook will feature items that are more actively shared.
No More Blog Imports to your Wall using Facebook Notes App
This message appeared at the top of the page:
“Changes to How You Share Content on Your Page
We want you to connect with your fans in the most effective ways possible. That’s why as of September 30th you’ll no longer be able to automatically import posts from your website to your page notes. The best way to get people to interact with your content is to give them insight into the links you share on your Wall by adding personal comments and responding to feedback from fans.
We’re focused on creating even better tools for pages – look for announcements soon.”
You will still be able to import your blog using a third party app and import your blog to a custom tab.
The Timeline
The Timeline is a real time life stream with photos, news and events that are automatically created for you based on what Facebook feels is relevant to you. It will also tie into apps you use as well. The Timeline is in beta now.
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