Facebook pages, free brand pages that enables marketers to highlight their business and products with Facebook users are being eliminated. In their place, will be company profiles and other new, anticipated features.
The new multitab company profiles will mirror user profiles with public message Walls, an application tab and other features of a typical user profile. The Facebook sales team has been promoting the new layout to advertisers, whom aren’t altogether happy. Many advertisers have spent already invested a lot of money creating and promoting Facebook pages that will no longer exist in their current state.
Enhanced Microblogging
Micro-blogging, popularized by Twitter, is a form of multimedia blogging that allows users to send brief text updates (140 characters or fewer) or micromedia such as photos or audio clips and publish them. These messages can be submitted and received by a variety of means, including text messaging, instant messaging, email, digital audio or the web.
After unsuccessful attempts to acquire Twitter last year, Facebook will provide real-time microblogging on its own. In the same spirit as Twitter, Facebook members will have the ability to receive microblog streams from their friends in real time. This could give Facebook a huge advantage over Twitter in the short term. Improved filtering of microblog content is HUGE in my opinion. Twitter currently has many filtering limitations.
Also, Facebook is ideally suited to incorporate photos in the stream — a feature Twitter lacks.
A Friendlier Facebook
Facebook will allow individuals to have up to 25,000 friends. This raises the current limit of 5,000 by a factor of five. Does anyone need more than 5,000 friends on Facebook? Doubtful. But wan’t it Bill Gates that said ’640K is more memory than anyone will ever need.’
The definition of ‘friend’ on Facebook is changing. As that definition changes to include brands, schools, organizations and interest groups, with real-time microblogging the need will increase significantly.
A New Look
Facebook outgrew it’s original design a long time ago. Facebook’s new look seems better conceived that earlier attempts, that were met with member backlash.
Based on a brief tour of the new look, I already like it. The new three-column filter/stream/publisher layout seems easy and uncluttered. I can’t wait to get the backstory of the new design to find out the high degree of user testing and usability research that went into the layout.
I encouraged by a more functional, integrated Facebook experience that retains and grows the “social” aspects Facebook and provides a more integrated role for marketers.
Credits: Cartoon by weblogcartoons.com
About Troy Janisch