Facebook’s Fan Pages Introduce ‘Like’

The introduction of Facebook’s ‘like’ button has become increasingly popular. It was introduced as an easy way to tell friends that you like their activity with one simple click, rather than writing a comment. The buttons popularity has led us to witness a large number of ‘likes’ for status updates, photos and links, no matter whatever or whoever’s page we view on Facebook – some people have started using the word ‘like’ as an expression in everyday speech. There are even ongoing campaigns in the form of Facebook groups and status updates to introduce a sister ‘dislike’ button, although no action has been taken as yet. However, the ‘like’ phenomenon is about to get bigger…

According to MediaMemo , Facebook will no longer house the ‘become a fan’ button for branded fan pages , we will simply be left with the ‘like’ button we all know and love. This change has come about by the sheer popularity the ‘like’ button possesses, with nearly twice as much usage as the fading ‘become a fan’ button. The minor change theoretically makes a great deal of sense as the ‘like’ button offers an easy, consistent way for people to engage with the things they are interested in. This is beneficial to brands as they are able to accumulate fans much faster, but there is also the potential to confuse users who like a particular brand but don’t necessarily want to join their fan pages and receive updates from them in their News Feed.

Facebook absorbs a large part of its business through ‘fan pages’, with the benefits reciprocated to the brands with the chance to draw real estate in the heavily trafficked social media site. The change to ‘like’ means that people will make more connections across the site, therefore encouraging the exposure of product updates and overall interaction with the brand.

Facebook’s small wording change is evidence of the simplistic path digital media is taking in order to satisfy a world where ease of use is a must. There is no doubt that this change will be popular amongst brands, but will it be welcomed by the everyday Facebook user?

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