May 10
17
Initially, all the changes announced at the f8 Conference made me really excited. As the weeks go buy, though, I keep finding little things that irk me. Have we decided whether or not we’re migrating to the “Likes” on Facebook/the entire Internet, or if we’re still using “Fans” occasionally? We know why Facebook went with the wording overhaul; they were looking for more interaction between users and brands across the Web (especially on Facebook), and people are supposedly more likely to click “like” than “become a fan” because it’s implied that there is less commitment (even though there isn’t – a bait-and-switch which, in and of itself, seems to be a moral decision Facebook is okay with).
That’s fine. I’m okay with that. I’m enjoying the idea of “liking” things across the Web – my favorite places on foursquare, my favorite restaurants on Yelp, my favorite movies on IMDB, etc. – and having them show up both on the sites and on my profile for my friends to see. My problem is with the semantics of the new system. On the back end, if you manage a page, you’ll see in the analytics that Facebook is still calling them Fans. Why? Well they don’t have much of a choice.
They’ve now created a situation where “likes” mean two different things on the same page. On a brand’s page, you can see “likes” that are people (where “Fans” used to be) and “likes” that are on-page actions (eg. “7 people like this” thing that you’ve posted to your wall). In your page’s Facebook Insights, Facebook can’t say that you’ve gotten 18 “likes” this week, because does that mean you’ve gotten 18 new people or 18 new actions from people? That’s why they’re still saying you’ve gotten 18 new “Fans” and 18 new “interactions.” How long will the front- and back-end have different terminology? I’m not sure they know. Facebook has kind of dug themselves a hole here. Shouldn’t this be a big deal?
