One of Facebook’s most notable design tips is the “Like” button, but soon the company will end it for Facebook pages. Starting today with an unspecified number of pages, there will be a new design, a dedicated news feed, a question and answer format and much more that page managers will be able to use.
The most significant change with this update is the removal of the like button and the count of likes, which is quite shocking, given that the like button has been a registered trademark of Facebook for over a decade. Facebook says it will help page managers get a better idea of their real fan base, which makes sense; there are a ton of pages that I “liked” many years ago, but that I stopped following. Instead, Facebook users will only be able to follow the pages soon, and the pages will also be able to follow the accounts. Visually, the pages are being updated, which Facebook says will make it easier for followers to see biographies and posts.
Facebook pages will also receive their own News Feed, where they will see the posts and updates for the accounts that follow. Page comments will be shown at the top of the comment sections and there will be a button to follow next to those comments. There will also be a question and answer function that page managers can use to better answer fan questions.
Finally, page management will gain some functionality; managers will be able to choose precisely which sections (Insights, Ads, Content and Activity and Community Messages) each person will be able to control. In addition, Facebook says it is also improving the detection of hate speech and impersonation, as well as violent, sexual and spam content. He also continues to distribute check marks to assist in impersonation.
All of these changes are apparently happening today, with broader implementation in the coming months.
