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Thursday, February 17, 2011

Why The New Facebook Pages Are Good for Bloggers

Facebook made an update.

It seems like that happens every week (and I can see you rolling your eyes from here at the mention of a new facebook update) but I think this particular one is something that can be really positive for bloggers, especially those of you who blog anonymously.

New Page Layout
Pages now look like the updated profile:

Tabs 
Tabs are no longer located at the top of the page, instead they are on the left side.

The row of pictures at the top 
When the new profile came out, there was much hatred for the row of pictures. The biggest complaint seemed to be that anyone could tag you in any picture and it would show up at the top of your profile (although it is possible to remove pictures you don't want by clicking on the 'x'). Your page now has the row of pictures at the top.

The good news is, only pictures uploaded to the wall by a page administrator will show up, so you don't have to worry about random people tagging or uploading pictures that will be displayed at the top of your page.

A great idea (and one that I obviously haven't followed yet, as you can see by my screenshot) is to upload specific pictures to be displayed. There are lots of fun and creative ideas for using the row of pictures on your profile, but you should know that unlike your personal profile, the pictures at the top of pages change order each time the page is loaded....so, know that the pictures won't stay in the order you place them.


New Settings Options
Clicking on the Edit Page button on the upper right, will open up your settings and permissions area.

Email Notifications
You now have the option to receive email notifications when people post or comment on your page.

New Wall Filters 
You now have two choices for how posts on your page will be filtered, showing posts from your page or posts from everyone. 

When using the 'Everyone' filter, posts will not appear in chronological order. Instead, they will be in the order of popularity and importance as decided by the facebook algorithm. 

If you choose the 'Only Posts by Page' filter, it will maintain the chronological order of postings, but people will have to click "everyone" manually if they want to see postings from other people on your page.

I hope that in the future, facebook will give the option for a "most recent" filter, but I'm not going to hold my breath waiting for it. 

Moderation Blocklist
If censorship is your thing, you can automatically block specific key words and terms. 
Also, you can choose for profanity to be automatically blocked. 

How You Post On Your Page
You can set the default for how you will post on your page - either as the page, or as your personal profile. It is especially nice to have this option for pages that have multiple administrators.

Option to Feature Administrator's Profile
You have the option to feature the profile of page administrators. It will show up on the left side, under the list of pages that your page has liked (more on that in a minute). I have done this with my page, because I have a facebook profile that is public, but if you choose to keep your profile private, it does not need to appear anywhere on your page.

This leads me to the biggest change to Facebook Pages, and the one that I think will really help bloggers, especially the anonymous ones.


New Option to Use Facebook as Your Page

On the right side of your page, you will see that you can 
"Use Facebook as _____(your page)". 

Your page will now be able to interact with other pages.

There has always been an option for your page to feature favorite pages. Prior to the update, featuring those other pages didn't really do anything for you, and if you wanted to comment on someone else's page, you had to do it through your profile.  The way it works now, you (as your page) visit other pages and like them,  and then your page will be able to comment and post on those pages.

When you use facebook as your page, it will have it's own home feed, which will consist of liked pages. You will also get comment reply notifications.

When you are finished using facebook as your page, you just click on account at the top right side and choose  to switch back to your personal profile.

I have been told by several anonymous bloggers that they would love to be able to connect and interact with blogs and bloggers via facebook, but don't dare to do it because it would "out" their real name and identity. This update means that an anonymous blogger can set up a page and use it to interact with other blogger's pages on facebook....without having any connection to their name or personal profile.

Definitely a step in the right direction for bloggers who want to get more involved in social media without compromising their privacy.

Do you have a facebook page? I do! 
What do you think of the new update? 

36 comments:

  1. I do have a Facebook page for my blog, and despite your great step by step explanations, I can't figure out how to work it. I sort of have to go between my home page and my other page. It works for me, but I'm certain your way is much more efficient.

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  2. Thanks for this Tracie! I blog anonymously and so the whole Facebook thing feels a bit tricky... this really helps! :)

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  3. Thanks for the info! The FB changes have been kind of confusing for me.

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  4. some people don't like the new homepage but I am loving it. :)

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  5. Thanks for the info. I will have to study it a bit, but it looks good.

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  6. Great overview! I LOVE the new facebook update.. It's great receiving email notifications now instead of constantly checking my page. Also like that I can interact with other pages as my blog page, that rocks!

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  7. Very helpful! I was wondering what was going on with the lack of chronological order on my blog's FB page...

    Stumbled!

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  8. Yeah I can't blog anonymously. Cause if I did how would I vlog?
    lol.
    Ya, I just wish you could comment on friend's pages as a FB fan page...
    But it's cool.
    And this tutorial is excellent!
    I give it an A.
    You are AWESOME at tutorials girl!

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  9. Great Post! I'm actually loving the changes that have been made. I feel like its' given my blogs facebook a lot more freedom and personality!

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  10. This is really fantastic. I was just having a discussion the other day with a roup of social media managers about the new layout. There was a lot of confusion about pages and how they operate. I'm going to share this!

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  11. Wow! That's excellent information! Thanks for clarifying what the Use Facebook as Page means...I didn't know what that meant!!

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  12. I wish they were smarter about their default settings, because by and large, people don't know they need to be changed.

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  13. great post tracie, i need to take this and hop over to my facebook pages and check all of the info out.. thanks so much, everytime facebook updates, my heart sinks and thinks oooo no here we go again... change! ahhhhh
    *waving,
    shelley

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  14. Thanks so much for being so timely and relevant! I'm going to hop on over to my page and make some changes.

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  15. Tracie,
    I am in love with the new features for my blog page. Just the ability to be able to post as my page and go all over the web as "Searching for Sustenance" instead of as Nicole is AWESOME! It has given my blog page a whole new life!!

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  16. I like it but it isn't pulling pictures from my feed anymore. Looks like yours is ... hmmmm!

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  17. I'm getting this much closer to starting my Facebook page. Yes, I'm one of the holdouts. But I love the anonymous blogger thing, that's a big selling point.

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  18. I was just exploring some of this today and I really like the changes! Thanks for showing us how it all works because I didn't know the half of it.

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  19. Thanks Tracie! I have a FB page for my blog, and now thanks to you I am a bit clearer on what the epdated pages means for me as a blogger and how to best use it. THANKS!!
    Stopping by from SITS
    xx

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  20. i wish i could use my page to comment on people who have 'liked' my page too, rather than just other pages. most of the people who 'like' my page aren't people i know in real life and so they don't have access to my personal facebook page. makes interaction impossible unless they come to me.

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  21. YES YES YES! I was so happy to finally see that we could interact AS our pages. Also, it used to be nearly impossible to notice if someone posted a comment or liked one of my updates on my page...Now I get notification! Also, I can now see WHO my new "likers" are and that makes me pleased as punch. :)

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  22. I need to take a look at all the changes- thanks for the tips!

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  23. I tried the "use facebook as your page" thing - worked well - it's a good feature.
    My most active page is "Stop Music On-Hold".
    thanks

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  24. You explained this perfectly. Thank you!

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  25. This is helpful! I didn't notice those little "x"s on the profile pictures and have been trying to figure out how to change them. I'm sharing this in my Friday "Things We Learned This Week" post with a link back here.

    (Found you through Saturday Sampling.)

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  26. I did not know this (about being able to use as Mrs4444). Thanks!

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  27. Still in the dark, but then most of FB is confusing to me! I only use it to connect with my family and friends and an occasional giveaway.
    Stumbled your post!
    http://wheelchairdecor.blogspot.com/
    Thanks, Becky Jane

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  28. Excellent post; one of the best I've come across so far regarding these changes. Thank you!

    Stumbling! My post is: http://www.keenlykristin.com/2011/02/make-it-your-mission.html

    Thanks!
    Kristin :)

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  29. That's very interesting. I just learned something new.
    I stumbled you, http://scarymarythehamsterlady.blogspot.com/2011/02/my-rant-work-ethic-and-keeping.html

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  30. I'm having a love/hate relationship with the new setup. I like that I can like pages with my blog but then if I enter a giveaway it's hard to tell which account I'm following with. I'm just going to keep following people with my regular account instead of blog to keep things streamlined.

    I stumbled your post! Would love if you stumbled mine: http://www.texastypeamom.com/2011/02/all-by-myself.html

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  31. Wonderful. Thanks! I've been trying to figure out how to interact with FB as my page, but had failed to notice the link. This got me thinking about the images along the top too... I need to add some!

    Late arrival from Stumble Tuesday...
    You can find my post here:
    http://www.mapleleafmommy.com/2011/02/independent-interview-lisa-from-giving.html

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  32. Hi! I stumbled your post
    Here's mine

    http://justasmalltownmommy.blogspot.com/2011/02/blogging-intimidation.html

    I also added myself to your GFC, happy blogging!

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  33. Tracie, You missed the biggest point, and the worst. Posts are no longer in Chronological order. This is very upsetting and impacting. Make sure to let your readers know both side of this critical issue. http://stillblondeafteralltheseyears.com/2011/02/bring-back-chronological-order-on-pages-a-plan-for-the-rebellion/

    Stumbled yours, please stumble mine.

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