Last week Facebook changed the 'become a fan' option to simply 'like'. This alteration was down to the fact that liking something is less of a commitment and so people are more likely to do it over becoming a fan. Apparently users have been clicking the 'like' button twice as much as they previously interacted with the 'become a fan' option. However my social media clients are yet to see this spike, the number of likes has steadily increased but at the same rate as before so I for one am still waiting for the analytical evidence.
I agree with Facebook that the connotations of becoming a fan are indeed heavier than to simply 'like' something so user interactions with community pages are probably going to increase. But that’s not all the new like feature entails,
"Now, certain parts of your profile, including your current city, hometown, education and work, and likes and interests, will contain "connections." Instead of just boring text, these connections are actually Pages, so your profile will become immediately more connected to the places, things and experiences that matter to you."
You can easily opt in or out of this feature and Facebook is all about connecting with those around you so I guess the increased link activity makes sense but I do resent these fairly fundamental changes being implemented without a formal warning and the users not being fully informed of everything that the change effects. I actually feel Facebook is a lot less about human communities and connecting with friends these days, now it’s a great marketing platform where brands connect with consumers. This isn’t a bad thing but a trend that is reflected in the recent move towards the 'like'.
So although the new 'like' is supposed to be lightweight it holds more baggage than the old being a fan,
"By clicking "Like" on a Page, you are making a connection to that Page. The Page will be displayed in your profile, and in turn, you will be displayed on the Page as a person who likes that Page. The Page will also be able to post content into your News Feed."
So ‘liking’ a community page is obviously very different to simply liking your mates’ status. Facebook rolled out these updates under the guise that it was to improve consistency but really I think the developers are catering to all the companies that use it for reputation management and online PR, which goes to show the power of social media for digital marketing, just check out this social shopping video from Levi's.
