This past week has introduced some new changes on Facebook, and along with it a few frustrations. I’ve spent some time reviewing the changes and visiting with other people about what this has meant for them. If you have noticed a change or have a frustration that isn’t covered here, please let me know in the comments section of this post. I’ll do my best to try to help.
Profile Layout
The most noticeable change made to Facebook is the new profile layout. As best that I can tell, Facebook did not automatically switch everyone to the new layout. It has been a gradual change, offered first in a pop-up window asking if you’d like to preview the new layout. Facebook is still giving you the option of switching, but has a nice tutorial walking you through the changes. While the new layout is a bit discombobulating at first, it is a clean and easy to navigate layout. It certainly puts “social” and “networking” at the forefront of the tool.
Fan Page Comments
Two changes seem to be happening simultaneously, making it a bit difficult to understand which is an intentional and permanent change, and which is an unintentional programming glitch that will go away as fast as they can fix it.
#1: I Can’t Comment!
Many people are reporting they can no longer comment on other fan pages, and I’ve heard some reports that they can’t even comment on their own fan pages for which they are administrators. I’ve seen reports of Facebook working hard to correct the “admin comment issue” on Twitter, and I’m assuming it is referring to this one. I’ve read that one of the things you can do is to alter your settings to allow others to comment. I don’t remember seeing this specific permission before, but maybe I didn’t pay much attention to it. Nevertheless, here’s what you can do:
- Go into your account in the upper right-hand corner
- Go into privacy settings
- Go into customized settings
- Change “Can comment on posts” to EVERYONE
From what I understand, if everyone doesn’t do this, comments don’t work correctly. To be more specific, you can comment on a thread YOU start on your own fan page. If a fan posts something to YOUR fan page but has NOT done the above tasks, you will not be able to comment on their post. Not very social!
#2: That’s My Name!
The other change people are seeing on their fan pages is the ability to comment personally. While admins for the page will appear as the poster of updates, etc, any subsequent comments on threads posted by an admin will show your own personal picture and name. I assume this was an intentional change made by Facebook and will be here to stay. For many people this is a welcome change, and for others it may pose some problems. If there is a “work around” I learn about, I’ll be sure to post it.
- Be sure that you have “Users can write or post content on the wall” checked in the Edit Page portion of your fan page too! That would definitely cause a problem.
Private Message
The private message or “Send a Message” button located under everyone’s picture in their personal profiles is missing in the new layout. I have not been able to locate it, but I’m looking. You can still send people a message, but you’ll have to go up to the main blue bar and click on the “Message” icon, then click on “Send a New Message”.
Here’s another great article written this morning about Facebook’s changes called, “What the Zuck? Facebook Page Admin Bombshell Causes Havoc,” and that writer’s take on things. The beauty of blogging is that we can share information, explain things a bit differently, and make our own guesses as to why Facebook is making the decisions it is.
Guidelines Change for Contests and Giveaways On Facebook
You see contests and giveaways on Facebook all the time. In the past, we’ve tried to communicate the rules and expectations of Facebook in this regard. However, they were vague, confusing, very restrictive, and quite frankly out of date (last revision was 2009). Apparently Facebook is loosening its hold on contests and giveaways, providing more support, and clarifying answers to the most asked questions. Before you run off and offer a free iPod for people “Like”ing your page, you still (according to Facebook) can’t run contests or giveaways directly from the Facebook platform. All must go through a third party application. This article from this morning called, “Major Changes: New Guidelines for Facebook Promotions” gives excellent insight into the details of the changes and provides many links to official Facebook guidelines and policies.
Update: 11:30AM on Thursday, December 9, 2010 – It does appear that fan page admin’s inability to comment on their own fan pages is a glitch. Facebook is working to fix this issue.
Update: 3:45PM on Thursday, December 9, 2010 – It seems that both commenting issues are resolved. I say this tentatively, as they appear fixed at this time.
photo credit: couragextoxlive
thanks for the update! Boy do they know how to keep people on facebook all day trying to get things to work – LOL! Hope it is resolved soon.
There are times where I would like my name on my pages comments, other times I would just like to keep it branded and general. And it is kind of a security thing too. Pros and Cons I guess.
I just read this and was excited to see that an admin can actually comment on their fan pages as themselves now! So…. full of excitement I went to my 4 pages and it didn’t work on any of them. Please elaborate.
Hi Tim,
You are not alone in your excitement over being able to post on your own fan page under your personal profile. Many people have wanted this option, and yet what happened on Thursday frustrated many others. Many brands did not want to be forced into showing individual identities of their admin people. In the end, it seems that this short lived feature was actually a glitch in Facebook’s system, was remedied, and is back to the previous features (both of the commenting issues mentioned). If Facebook has plans to allow this feature in the future or give admins the option of choosing (brand or personal), remains to be seen. We’ll continue to watch and report any changes as we see them.
There still seem to be some minor issues/complaints I see, but on a much smaller scale and more sporadic.
Since the commenting issue has been fixed, you do not need to go into your security settings and do the itemized tasks above. It should be working fine now.
One of our fans of Facebook pointed out that the new Facebook changes took away “Fan Photos” on the fan pages and it is difficult for fans to upload into anywhere other than “wall” photos. We’re doing some checking on this issue and will post any finding here and on facebook.