Turn the Page?

Mobile phone showing Facebook

Another month so there must be another change to Facebook – and this one is more than simply moving the search bar from the right to the left of the screen.

Facebook announced that its Pages are getting a new, more streamlined look but if you manage pages for your organisation or clients, you need to be across what is going to happen.

The biggest change is that the timeline is going down from two columns to one, which means it’s goodbye to highlighted images and videos. Yes, they are making images slightly larger and introducing new fonts and icons,  but it’s not going to have the same visual impact that a highlighted piece of content will.   The timeline is also switching position so it is now on the right with follower information and company information in the left column.

Apps are now hidden away under a tab called ‘More’ – as are personal profiles and other details. They will be accessible but how many fans will take the time to click through and explore without at least a visual reminder?

For page admins, a weekly metrics section has moved to the top right and includes ad data, likes and post reach along with the historic timeline underneath it, Total page likes has moved left under the profile picture but critically the talking about this number has disappeared – raising the importance of page followers and the possibility of another recruiting followers arms race.

Cover images may also need to be adjusted as the page name and category now appear in white text at the bottom of the image and the profile picture itself has moved a little bit higher than before.

It looks like Facebook are attempting to bring their mobile and desktop viewing experiences into closer harmony which is all well and good but does this mean they are prepared to sacrifice fangates and other useful apps to make it happen?

We’ll see.