It appears that Facebook have once again been carrying out changes effecting privacy and functionality. So what's new?
Facebook Places
Facebook have released "Places" as a more prominent feature which may give Google and Trip Advisor a run for their money. Places now not only focuses on your location but allows you to search for places in your area. Within the search results you will find, name and contact details of the place you have searched for as well as ratings, comments, reviews from your friends and the standard like, along with the ability to save and view it's location on the map.
Below you will see a local places search for "restaurants" in Guernsey, and the list is pretty lengthy.
So will Facebook become a major competitor to Trip Advisor? It's hard to say. With Facebook holding a large stake in the social media market, and with Facebook having such a hold over our lives it could be the simplest route to finding reviews and contact details. Usability could potentially be improved, but If this feature is something that takes off it is likely that you will be seeing more and more businesses targeting Facebook to get themselves on the map!
There are also other updates that Facebook have been making with no big announcements, this includes the ability to schedule posts and draft posts, the end of like gating, and an update to the privacy policy.
Post Functionality
The schedule and draft functionality is a really handy tool, especially for business pages. This is something that could help save time and reduce stress for all social media managers out there. No longer do you need to worry about hand over of communication strategies while you are on holiday. Now you can simply draft a post and schedule for it to be distributed on any given day and time of your choice!
Like Gating
Like Gating is when a user must "like" a page in order to view content or enter a competition. Competitions are a big thing on Facebook, especially those that request likes and shares of pages and posts to win. Facebook have grown weary of this, and have decided to stop irrelevant content being pushed upon users. Facebook have announced that the social media platform is predominantly for users and not businesses, and this is how it will remain. Users should not be put in a situation where they must like a page to view content that has no relevance to them or be lured into artificial incentives. A user should like a page because they genuinely want to connect with that brand or business. So what does this mean to businesses and brands?
- Like gate campaigns can still run, however the campaigns message should be changed to relate to the update. The messaging should now be asking rather than forcing.
- All content will now be available whether you like the page/tab or not.
- Brands and businesses shouldn't compare a like to a subscription, as identified in Marketing Land's recent article.
Privacy Policy
Last but not least, Facebook have updated their privacy policy clarify how it uses it's 1.3bn users data. The privacy policy has been simplified with use of colour coding, illustrations and an interactive tutorial on "privacy basics". Many feel that this update has been in association to the impact of mobile and the ability to track user location. There has also been rumours of a buy button being added to the social platform which would mean that security factors would need to be considered regarding users payment and delivery details. The buy button is currently in the testing phase.
If you haven't reviewed the privacy policy and your privacy settings, please take the time to do so.
Make sure you keep an eye out for future Facebook updates!
Image courtesy of mkhmarketing.
