Hopefully, everyone has noticed the new Facebook. It shows us something about humanity, in yet another example of the extent to which people can cope with change. It also demonstrates how hard it is to alter an established platform and still meet the rooted expectations of our users.
There is one place on the internet where people seem to feel at home: Facebook. With Google+ joining the game, Facebook was forced to develop a new set of features in order to keep the competition out the door.
There is a lot of buzz around the subject. Some hate it, some like it. And as with standard human behavior, it doesn’t surprise us that negative sentiments are taking the lead in most of our newsfeeds. But what did they actually change? And how does this affect your brand’s Facebook page? What is to come?
Here is a short introduction to the new Facebook:
TICKER
The ticker is a newly designed box in the top right corner of your Facebook application. It shows the latest updates of your personal network. What updates will show depends on the regularity of a user logging in to Facebook.
Haven’t been on in three weeks? It will only show the important updates. Are you logging in four times a day? Then, the latest updates of your personal network will be published in chronological order.
The ticker box also is interactive. Comment, like, and post to your friends’ walls directly from a ticker box update by hovering over the items.
It also allows for a “Twitter-like” interaction with a constantly refreshing feed of updates from your network, thus increasing the engagement factor.
Also bear in mind that Facebook recently made changes to their ‘email notifications.’ These will be minimized, driving people to log in more often.
SUBSCRIBE
Facebook introduced a new subscribe button on user profiles. This means that you don’t have to become friends with someone to follow his or her updates, which feels a bit like the ‘follow’ button that we have been using on Twitter. Obviously, users should enable the subscription button first, allowing other users to subscribe to their updates.
This feature is particularly interesting for celebrities and brand ambassadors. Initiatives such as the Oscar PR Girl campaign can use their Facebook profile to a larger extent for commercial and branding purposes. Brands that identified the power of brand personification online will now be a step ahead.
Do you have a brand ambassador?
LISTS
This feature was most likely to be added to the Facebook platform. Ever since Google+ launched, the infamous “circles” were differentiating Google+ from its rival. Facebook countered with an extremely quick introduction of lists. The concept of lists and circles is fairly similar. With users ‘collecting’ an enormous amount of friends, they can now browse a separate newsfeed with posts being shown from a particular list they select. When users now update their status or share a link, it will only be shown to those people in that list, allowing for more privacy.
Lists is a powerful feature to organize your newsfeed and decide who sees what when it comes to your posts. Think of what this means for your brand. Wouldn’t it be great to create lists based on certain user demographics to better target your content? Maybe luxury brands can start creating a list of exclusive members to move away from mass communication, as this might negatively affect the brand in the long term because luxury IS exclusivity.
NEWSFEED
Everybody has noticed. The interface and functionality of the newsfeed has changed. Updates are now marked ‘top stories’ with a little blue triangle on the top left corner. In the top right corner you have a drop-down label that allows you to unsubscribe from a particular friend’s updates or indicate what type of updates you wish to receive from this user.
We gained big images, which are visually very attractive. For branding purposes this is a great tool. Runway, behind the scenes photography and other visual content will get more exposure.
Tip: consider creating a small branded label that you add to your photo files to make sure the photography is always accompanied with your logo.
BUSINESS PAGE
The custom tabs that were shown to people who had not liked the page yet (including large arrows towards the like button to drive conversion) are (temporarily) gone. Facebook has disabled the custom tab, which has proven useful to many brands hoping to increase their number of likes. Rumors suggest that we may receive an update for improving the way of integrating custom designs (tabs) on your Facebook business page in the near future. We’ll just have to be a little patient.
CONCLUSION
Facebook took the leap of changing its interface and adding powerful features. Change is always a tough process, and users, as much as businesses, will need some time to figure out the best ways to leverage the new Facebook.
Yes, it became a bit more complicated. But the creative freedom it gives brands to interact with their social networks is big positive. Users can separate ‘professional’ friends from ‘personal’ friends and the ability to follow people that aren’t necessarily friends has been added. Visual elements separate top stories from just any old update and the presentation of rich content has been improved, all adding to increased interactivity and engagement. But that’s just my personal opinion.
Interested in this topic? We are, too! That’s why we’re covering this in detail at FashionForward where we will present a panel discussion titled, “The Facebook Dilemma: Maintaining an Exclusive Image in a Democratic Forum”. Space is extremely limited and tickets are going quick. Visit the FashionForward site for more info and to request an invitation.
Photo Credits: Network Marketing Tricks
