Changes to your Facebook page

Changes is inevitable. Online it's constant.  Facebook is changing its format and anyone with a facebook page, which is everyone by now, will soon see them. 

•Increase on the character limits on status updates from 500 to 5,000
•Added floating top navigation bar
•Gave users the ability to edit the left hand navigation menu
•Hid the poke button
•Streamlined the Birthday notifications feature
•Removed the ability for users to add custom messages to friend requests
•And don’t forget friend lists, introduced last week

The biggest update to the platform, however, is without a doubt the redesigned newsfeed section. With this update, Facebook has further defined and developed their relevancy algorithm. Now, the default newsfeed page has been redesigned to include a split stacked single column feed instead of two single column tabs.

The first, and primary section is for top stories, a contextually optimized feed which contains the “top” stories that were posted since the last time you logged into Facebook. These top stories are selected using Facebook’s EdgeRank algorithm, which can now be more easily refined thanks to the addition of a top story toggle button on the upper left corner of top posts.

What do these changes mean for brands?
1. These changes are like a filter to get what people want
2. Brands will game the algorithm. This is the next SEO.
3. It will be harder to get fans and keep them interested.
4. Companies will make rich content, like photos and video on their updates.
5. This type of content will get bigger.
6. Updates will reach for not only news but a higher level of engagement

Don’t panic. As with every major Facebook update, you’ll have to make some changes to your strategy. It will take marketers some time to catch up with these changes. But they will, and the savvy brands will ultimately become stronger and better at generating engagement on Facebook.