Changes Coming to Facebook

Facebook has made some changes recently:

• Boxes Tab and Applications - Under the new design, Boxes and the Boxes tab will be removed and any current content offered in them will disappear immediately upon the new Pages launch. Posting content on the Wall of Facebook Pages is a great way to spread a brand message by allowing Fans and others to comment, like and share the content. But many companies need to go further to set up a brand presence and add custom content to the Page to highlight promotions, applications, links and more.  Facebook says that application tabs will be the only way custom content and functionality can integrate into Pages.
• Width – The tabs will shrink from 760 pixels wide (today) to 520 pixels wide to accommodate the new design. The company has not provided any additional information on how it plans to use the extra space. But changing the width has many implications for brands. The first, and most important in the short term, is the need to redesign all application tabs that use custom designs. All tabs with flash content wider than 520 pixels must be redone. All tabs with custom HTML or FBML wider than 520 must be redesigned.
• News Feeds – Newsfeeds will now be surfaced based on a Facebook algorithm that takes into account how people are engaging with your content that you publish to your wall. The more people visit the Page and the more they comment on and like your content, the more Facebook will insert your updates into their feeds.  Getting your message into your fans’ feeds is not a right on the Facebook platform anymore, it’s a privilege and you need to earn that privilege by publishing content that your fans react to.
• Email – Brands will be able to collect email addresses from Facebook users directly through Facebook Pages and applications using a new email API. Smart marketers have been collecting email addresses from users since the Platform launched. However, this new 1-click functionality will reduce much of the friction and will make building your email list within Facebook much easier.

The changes will effect how brands market through Facebook. But they will not change the effectiveness of the marketing. Brands will still be able to set up a presence, market that presence and take advantage of the world’s largest two-way marketing platform. And that’s what really matters.

Tagged as: Facebook, facebook changes