If Facebook was a taco, it would probably be something like this:

Okay, it might be an exaggeration (up until the blueberry pancake at least), but with yesterday’s latest implementation of Facebook page features, it can be a bit overwhelming. Especially for those trying to get a solid grip on utilizing the platform for businesses.

So what are these features and how will they affect you? Whether you run a fan page for a business or just manage your own personal profile, this update will undoubtedly shake things up a bit for you.

The good news is that Facebook doesn’t completely leave you in the dark about this update–it gives you a basic walk-through of the new features the next time you visit a fanpage as admin (see the screenshot below), but I’d recommend trying it out for yourself to get a feel for how it works.

The bad news is that there are a ton of little modifications that have been flip-flopped, modified, eliminated, or in the case of Taco Town, deep fried. Plus, Facebook will be permanently switching to this layout on March 1st, 2011– so it’s best to start learnin’ quick. Feeling similar to Bill Hader on the video’s thumbnail above (about 0:37 into the commercial)? Fear not, this mini-guide will give you some helpful pointers for navigating the new interface and provide some insight into the potential that this new system brings.

THE BIG CHANGES:

1. More Social: Before, fan pages were limited to their own domain, and thus, their own news feed. This consisted of posts by the page itself and fan posts, likes and comments. Now, they’re given the freedom to “like” other pages and comment on them as their own entity. How is this achieved? If you’re an admin to a page, you now have the option of logging in as the page when you visit it (see below). After doing so, you’re essentially “the fan page” on Facebook. Cool, right? It’s Facebook’s way of making pages more social. No longer is a page constrained to its own fan base–now, there’s the ability to be a bit more social. What does this mean? You can give your brand a voice. It’s going to be great for the talkers and listeners but terrible for the anti-social crowd. It’s high school all over again!
2. The News Feed: Since the new interface allows a page to be more engaging through likes and comments, a news feed has been instated to develop this social component. When you’re logged in as a page (as done through the screenshot example above) you can now click “home” to go to the page’s news feed. Similar to your own personal profile, a fan page’s news feed aggregates postings that are relevant to the fan page’s new found likes and fans. We’re pretty psyched about it. It’s the foundation for a fan page’s social interactions and will be a huge asset in developing its voice.

THE SUBTLE CHANGES:

1. Where did my tabs go? Uh-oh! All those tabs up at the top of a fan page have been shifted over to the left, underneath the fan page’s picture. While landing pages will still work, it may take some time for fans to adjust to the new layout.
2. Admin Email Notifications: Now that a page has its own social profile, it can also get notifications when a fan posts on its wall. This means that admins will be notified via email when this instance occurs. For especially large pages (or if you’re the admin of multiple pages), this can get quite daunting! Since I’m the admin on several client pages, my inbox was exploding with emails after the switch. To turn this off, simply go to your personal account settings, then click on notifications. Scroll down to this section (pictured below) and click on “Change email settings for individual Pages.” Voila! Of course, there will most likely be a whole new slew of tiny nuances that change in the near future. But for the most part, these are the major and subtle changes that might not readily be apparent after going through Facebook’s basic walkthrough. Our recommendation is to try it out for yourself and discover what has changed.

Honestly, we’re really psyched about this whole new development–and it really comes with no surprise. The online world is becoming increasingly social, and it’s really a giant leap towards embracing and exploring this aspect. It’s become apparent that brands need to be social to thrive in this environment, to listen and engage with their audience–brands now have voices. If yours doesn’t it’s best to speak up now. Oh, wait…

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