In a major overhaul to its policy and design, Facebook has decided to drop the 'like' button from its redesigned public pages used by artists, public figures and brands, the social media company said on Wednesday. With the redesign, Facebook Page will now focus on followers—a more direct measurement of how many people a Page is currently reaching—than the “like” button.
Facebook Page for creators and public figures will now come with a fresh look-and-feel, including updated navigation, the introduction of a dedicated News Feed and a new Q&A format for engaging fans. Other updates include an updated task-based admin controls giving trusted Page admins full control or partial access, actionable insights and more relevant notifications, and safety and integrity features to detect spammy content and impersonator accounts.
The Menlo Park company stated that "this is just the beginning—we’ll continue to roll out the new Pages experience to all Pages in the upcoming months."
A notable change is the dedicated News Feed. "Now Pages can discover and join conversations, follow trends, interact with peers and engage with fans. The dedicated News Feed will also suggest new connections — other public figures, Pages, Groups and trending content that a Page or public figure cares about. To make Page conversations more visible to a wider audience and surfaced more frequently in their followers’ News Feed, comments from public figures will be bumped to the top of the comments section. People will also be able to follow Pages directly from comments and recommendations posts," Asad Awan, Head of Public Connections and Monetisation, stated.
