Facebook: Become a Fan vs. Liking a Page

UPDATED April 23 @ 8:16PM - highlighted below.
More light has been shown on the privacy issues of Facebook's plan to be your interaction point for everything on the web, not just when you're on Facebook.

UPDATED April 21 @ 1:48PM - highlighted below.
There's been some confusion over what the new interactions between Facebook users and official pages... wherein you "like" a page rather than "become a fan" of the page as had been the case previously.

First, some of the pros & cons of the change, from the non-profit organization point-of-view:
- Easier and more likely for potential fans to engage your cause: Prior to the change, the average Facebook user "liked" 9 things per month, but only "became a fan" of 2 pages per month.
- Greater base of fans (as more "like" you) to view your messages, events and appeals.
- Opportunity to bring fringe fans into your core constituency via case-building tactics.
UPDATE: - A new pro that I've stumbled upon... If you visit a page that you do not manage, you can only see what friends of yours also like the page (plus the six random people shown under the total number of fans). Therefore, you can feel better about the security of your list of fans, as it is only visible to the page admins.
- A pro becomes a con... The barriers to clicking "like" are apparently less significant than those that are associated with "becoming a fan" - the theory being that people were more careful about what they "fanned." Therefore, the ease with which people can now like your cause means those that like you may not be as engaged as your previous audience.
- Does this result in your cause getting lumped into everything else on Facebook, now that your efforts can be liked equally to Danny's status update about going out Friday night?

UPDATE: Starting Wednesday, April 21 new info pages were showing up as users logged in. You can click on the screenshots below for more clarity. One detail to note is that the revenue generating side of the 'become a fan' -> 'like' shift is evident by the final screenshot with corporate partnerships.


UPDATE: The second screenshot above deals with the world-domination factor: Liking anything on any website, will be used to tailor what advertisers and other sites show you. Example, you like "Goodfellas" as a movie on your page, you may see a suggestion to buy "The Sopranos complete series" when visiting Amazon. You click "like" on an environmental article on GOOD.is and you may get a suggestion to buy "An Inconvenient Truth" on Half.com. These are strictly hypothetical scenarios - I do not know if any of the mentioned sites are involved.

Some notes on how to control your privacy settings to avoid such information dissemination:

Visit your privacy settings and note two items: What your friends can share about you and Instant Personalization

Click "Edit Setting" by Instant Personalization and you can opt out of the web interface example above (Goodfellas & Al Gore). You will be asked to confirm with a prompt similar to this:

Under What your friends can share... You can select what items they can give to their applications. See shot below:

These are your decisions. My opinion is that you should opt-out of the personalization and avoid letting your friends share anything about you. If you would like to see what you are sharing use the following link (which will show you the moredonors page settings) and change "moredonors" to your account name in Facebook.

http://graph.facebook.com/moredonors

This is what the moredonors page shows:

   "id": "312071021304"
  "name": "More Donors",
  "picture": "http://profile.ak.fbcdn.net/hprofile-ak-sf2p/hs254.snc3/23285_312071021304_8673_s.jpg",
  "link": "http://www.facebook.com/moredonors",
  "category": "Local_professional_services",
  "username": "moredonors",
  "general_info": "Fundraising consultation that is affordable, donor-centered, data-based and sustainable. Helping you find... more donors.",
  "fan_count": 112

And this is what my personal account shows via http://graph.facebook.com/dmathias

   "id": "2048742",
  "name": "Devin Mathias",
  "first_name": "Devin",
  "last_name": "Mathias"

All of that being said, I do not think this will be an overly-significant change when we look back on it in a few months. As for some of the more specific details on the change, here are comments from the Facebook mothership:

Why did "Become a Fan" change to "Like"?

To improve your experience and promote consistency across the site, we've changed the language for Pages from "Fan" to "Like." We believe this change offers you a more light-weight and standard way to connect with people, things and topics in which you are interested.

What does it mean to "Like" a Page?

When you click "Like" on a Page, you are making a connection to that Page. The Page will be displayed in your profile, and in turn, you will be displayed on the Page as a person who likes that Page. The Page will also be able to post content into your News Feed.

Can I still "Like" a News Feed story about my friends Liking Pages?

No. When you see a Feed story about a friend Liking a Page, there will be no feedback links below that story. However, if you hover over the Page name, you will see a small preview of the Page and the number of other people who have also Liked that Page. You can then Like that Page to add it to your profile, or you can click through to the Page itself.

Is there a difference between "Liking" an item a friend posts and "Liking" a Page?

Yes. Liking a Page means you are connecting to that Page. When you connect to a Page, it will appear in your profile and you will appear on the Page as a person who likes that Page. The Page will also be able to post content into your News Feed.

On the other hand, when you click "Like" on a piece of content that a friend posts, you are simply letting your friend know that you like it without leaving a comment.

Now that you understand all of that... shouldn't you go become a fan of, err... I mean like the More Donors Facebook page? ;)

More Donors on Facebook

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