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Social Media is Changing

Happy New Year from the team at Higher Images!  With each New Year comes change, and 2012 is no exception!  This week, we will be discussing the major changes in progress, and on the way, on the Social Media front – specifically Facebook.  Some changes are good, and some are a bit confusing…

The first major change many of you may notice on your social media Facebook profile (not fan pages – yet), is the implementation of the “timeline” layout.  Some of us here at Higher Images love it, some not so much (several of us have been testing it out for weeks).  The pros and cons, as we see them, are:

Pros

  • Easy navigation
  • A snapshot view of a profile
  • The ability to easily get to old posts and photos
  • The option to hide photos and/or posts from profile viewers, without deleting them permanently

Cons

  • Perfect for stalkers – want to see what someone was doing four years ago?  Click on any given year, and you can see it all
  • Yet another major change that users have no control over
  • No announcement that this change was coming, unless you knew where to look
  • The expectation that once users get accustomed to using the new layout, the Facebook powers-that-be will do another complete revamp, and throw us all for a loop once again
  • Finding that perfect “landscape” layout photo to use as your cover photo isn’t as easy as it seems.  While you can reposition the picture within the frame, too small of a photo becomes blurry and distorted, while too large of a photo won’t fit within the “confines” of the frame.

As it stands now, Facebook is keeping quiet as to whether or not Fan Pages will also have the timeline layout, but it seems that it would be inevitable.  It would seem, based on the features available for profile users, the timeline (or something similar) would be a benefit to fan page users.

Another social media change that will be completed by February is the elimination of FBML (landing) pages on fan pages.  This is particularly important to business owners who utilize FBML pages as the default landing page for those who do not yet “like” the page.  While Facebook isn’t eliminating these pages entirely, they will soon be “hidden away” within a community tab on the side bar. In other words, if you want your visitors to see the page, they have to go and look for it.

The decline of the “Like” impact is something that Facebook has been hinting about for some time.  In the past, a brand’s success on Facebook was determined by the number of “Likes” or fans.

However, there is a shift in this, as Facebook wants to focus more on quality, instead of quantity.  In other words, simply having fans isn’t going to get your brand out there.  Engaging content, shares and “buzz” about your business is what’s more important.

As of this time, we are researching alternate methods of promoting businesses and brands across social spaces, including Google+ pages.  As we learn more about these changes, available alternatives and ways we are able to better your brand visibility, we will share with you!

If you have any questions about your current social media efforts, and how your social media marketing may change, please contact Higher Images at 412-203-1996.