Did you see these Facebook Changes?

As soon as we get used to things it seems that Facebook can’t help themselves from making changes.  Just this week I’ve come across a few new changes that I’d like to share with you…along with some thoughts on them.  Some I like, some I don’t, and some I’m just not sure about.  Read on to decide for yourself.

Facebook Change #1

This feature is my favorite and LONG overdue.  In the past every time we shared a piece of content a whole new conversation was started.  That meant the conversations were spread out all over several different pages and some of the buzz was lost.  Now, the shared content keeps the conversations (from your network) attached to it.

In this example #1 is the conversations from my post, #2 is the conversations from my friend Peter’s post.

Why this is so important (to me and maybe you.)

As a content creator I love when people *SHARE* my content (cough, cough- this is a good time for you to hit the *SHARE* button at the top of this post— if you haven’t already.)  But, the problem with everyone sharing it to their pages is that the conversation ends up fragmented.  This feature will help to bring the conversation (and the buzz) back to the content which originally started it.

Facebook Change #2

I was delighted to find this new feature on my Facebook (Fan, Business, Like?) Page this morning.  This is a quick look at the health of your page.  I was also delighted to find the new back end page stats which are much easier to read then the old ones.

What these numbers mean.

From top to bottom I’m going to share what (I think) these numbers mean.

  1. Pretty Simple- How many people are actively using your page each month.
  2. How many new Likes? (fans) your page is getting.
  3. I believe this is the number of impressions (views) your content is getting daily.
  4. How many interactions there are with your content (Likes, Comments)

Facebook Change #3

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHka9p21YrI[/youtube]

Just in case you didn’t see the video above, you can see it now by Clicking Here.

One of the most controversial Facebook changes is the addition of the new “answers” feature.  In the video above Mari Smith questions whether or not this feature is diverting traffic from your page.  I haven’t seen the feature for myself yet, but I will certainly test it and write more about it in the future.

UPDATE

The photo below was taken a few hours after I first shared this post on Facebook.  This is a first hand look at how this ACTUALLY works to keep the buzz surrounding your content in one place.  Thanks for sharing this out!


Now that you’ve seen the changes. What do you think about them?

Leave your thoughts in the comments section below and let’s disqus it 😉

  • Great points on some of the new functions. Another thing is the addition of the “Like” functions off Facebook. Any Realtor who has a website or blog needs to have the Like button integrated. The “web fan” doesn't have to like your Facebook fan page and they still get updated content into their newsfeed. Have you looked into that yet?

  • Hey Erica, are you talking about the “Like” button similar to the one we have on this blog?

    If that's the one, then we covered it in April on this post:
    http://real-techguy.com/2010/04/27/what-do-the-…

    If not, I'd certainly like to hear more.

    Either way, I agree with you that the “Like” feature was a great start to the open graph, and I think these changes are in line with getting people together around the content—wherever it may be.

  • That's the one I'm talking about! I didn't really realize the full implications that meant when the story first hit the press in the Spring. Jay Baer has a great article earlier in the week that hit me like a lightening bolt!

    Here's the link: http://www.convinceandconvert.com/social-media-…

    It was a very interesting viewpoint about how powerful Facebook could potentially be. Agents taking advantage and learning all the functions are going to be wayyyy ahead of the curve.

  • EXCELLENT post Erica. It's really amazing how Facebook has essentially changed the way we interact with content and use the web in general. I'm excited to see the possibilities of the real “Social Web.”

  • Sandra Gibson

    Neat! I love change and innovation. Love to move forward and grow.
    powerplaymmp

  • I'm pretty excited about the first two as well. I think the 3rd one could be cool depending on how it all works out. I've got a strategy in mind that I'll try and write about when it's finally available to me.