Facebook has announced some changes in the works for its Pages feature, with the term ‘Become a Fan’ being replaced by ‘Like’, and the term ‘Fans’ to be changed to ‘Connections’. The world’s largest social networking site has also mentioned a plan for the ‘Like’ button to be able to be implemented in publisher’s content on their own websites, not just Facebook.
According to David Berkowitz at AdAge,
“Facebook has announced to its partners that in the next two to three weeks, the “Become a Fan” concept for branded pages will be replaced with the more prevalent “Like” button and brands will no longer accumulate “Fans,” but “Connections” instead. This change narrows the list of actions available to Facebook fans, and consolidates the bulk of interactions fans will have with brand content to “Like,” “Comment” and “Share.”
There’s been some debate about whether using the term ‘Like’ for a brand is as potent as the term ‘Become a Fan’, and because the news was only communicated to advertisers, not all users, some confusion is likely to be seen from this change. Berkowitz goes on to say, “Consumers needed to think twice about whether they’d become a fan of a brand because it meant something, even in a small way, to include that as part of their persona.”
Social media marketing consultant John Haydon said, “The biggest impact this change will make it a subtle, but important one. As more and more users begin to adopt “liking” Pages, it may be harder to identify true fans.” Indeed, if it’s as easy as agreeing to ‘Like’ something by clicking a button, perhaps brands will gain more ‘Connections’, but those connections may not be as engaged as people who would willingly call themselves ‘Fans’.
For publishers, TechCrunch hints at the power of the coming ‘Like’ button for websites, as opposed to the current ‘Share’ button:
“Good for publishers? Yes. But it’s also very, very good for Facebook as hundreds of thousands of websites will rush to format their content to exactly Facebook’s preference and send over all their data without a second thought.”
[Derek Markham is a writer, a father, a WordPress addict, and social media butterfly who loves to share what's new and interesting in his world in under 140 characters. Hit him up with an @ reply anytime for help, conversation, or just to say hey!]
