Back in February I wrote a post titled For Lack of a Better Word. Obviously Mark Zuckerberg has the ithnk RSS feed plugged into his Reader because Facebook has changed the daunting “become a fan” process of pages to the more casual “like” action.
The explanation given by Facebook was quote “We hope this action will feel much more lightweight”. Translation: “Yes Andy you were right on the money – people freak out about becoming a fan so we toned it down to reduce fanphobia”. No probs Mark, happy to help. Mind if I call you Zuk? Oh you do… This is awkward.
So now we’ve got a situation where liking a page means you automatically become a fan which to me seems a little misleading. Organisations that use Facebook pages as a communication tool might want to take note of these developments. You may get more ‘likes’ but does that result in the same type in interaction you get with real fans? We’ll see.
If there is a moral to the story it is this; you can do heaps of wicked stuff on Facebook but in reality you have very little control. If Facebook want to make a change they will, and usually without notice. Thnk about diversifying your social media strategy so all your eggs aren’t teetering in the whimsical Facebook basket.
