Facebook is infamous for rolling out interface changes without letting the hundreds of million users advanced warning (ex. @facebook.comemails.). Earlier in July, Facebook started rolling out the Timeline layout for its Facebook Fan pages across its mobile app. Check out how the old layout compares to the new layout.
The Old Versus the New Layout
Image Credit: http://mashable.com/2012/07/13/timeline-facebook-mobile/
I personally wasn’t a big fan of the old design which didn’t emphase pictures much, and wasted a lot of precious space. The new layout incorporates the same cover photo and profile photo found in the web version which was rolled out in February.
If your company has a business phone listed on the page it much more convenient to call. For examples on our page, just click the call button and you’ll connect to a our experienced friendly customer service staff…which is actually just Rachit, Prantik or myself.
The new design also indicates which voice you’re posting as, which is great feature because sometimes I’m never sure what voice I’m acting under. This can eliminate awkward replies when you comment as the wrong voice. One drawback is that I can’t change the voice on my mobile by clicking the banner. It can only be changed on your computer. Facebook’s mobile app doesn’t give user access to any of settings so I’m not surprised by this move to limit features on the fan page.
Web Featured Carried Over to the Mobile
Don’t forget that the updated timeline feature also includes pinned posts but doesn’t include highlighted posts (due to the limited screen space).
Simple Facebook Insights on Mobile
Another thing to note is that now you can see the total amount of likes and engagement levels of the page as well as some basic stats like ‘Most Popular Week’, ‘Most Popular City’ and ‘Most Popular Age’. Not a big surprise that our most popular city is Singapore and most popular demographic are people aged similarly to ours. Like attracts like. Still, it’s a useful feature.
It’s a good start but…
Overall, I welcome the new aesthetic changes to fan pages on my mobile phone. Optimizing content for the mobile will increasingly become a critical factor to drive engagement. The app still retains its ‘viewing only’ focus because of the lack of changeable settings but it is convenient and pleasant to view content on the my mobile. I still feel there are a lack of options for brands to work better manage their fan page (like deeper insights, settings I can actually change on my mobile, and more posting options like scheduling). Even the Facebook has released an app dedicated for fan page management, it still lacks serious feature community managers need. I’ll go over that app in more detail in a later article.
The timeline update was a good start and I look forward to additional features Facebook will roll out in the months to come to further enhance mobile phone users’ experience. Just let give us a heads up.
David Liem
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