Why Facebook Changed to Meta
How did Facebook, which was once just the place to keep up with your friends, change over time to become an indispensable tool in your business? The short answer is that Facebook changed to Meta because it had to.
Once your customers find you on social media, you don’t want them going anywhere else—Facebook had to build and implement new features that made their site more intuitive and user-friendly than the competition, namely Twitter and LinkedIn.
What is Facebook
Facebook is a social networking service that connects people with friends and others who work, study, and live around them. Facebook lets you share photos and videos, send messages and get updates from your friends… With more than 350 million active users, Facebook has become an increasingly essential tool for business promotion. When used properly, Facebook can be used as a powerful way to reach millions of consumers in one fell swoop.
When not optimized well, Facebook can also be detrimental to your company’s presence on social media platforms. Being aware of what kind of content works best on Facebook will help you make informed decisions about how you use it as part of your social media marketing strategy… If you don’t have a Facebook page for your business yet, it’s time to create one now!
How Facebook Became Successful
Facebook was officially launched on February 4, 2004, at Harvard University. It was originally created by Mark Zuckerberg and his roommate Dustin Moskovitz. The idea came from a need for students to use an online directory with photos, phone numbers, personal bios, and interests for one to discover one another on campus. Facebook began as a closed network where users needed an invite in order to join. It became more open in September 2006 when it opened up beyond college campuses. Users all over the world were able to create their own profiles, upload photos, and videos, and stay connected with friends who were already using Facebook. In 2008 Facebook announced that it had 100 million active users worldwide!
Facebook is among one of the largest social networks, with millions of users around the world. With such a big user base, it was only a matter of time before Facebook started becoming more developed and advanced. There were many different features being added to it that made it even better than before, but not all changes that are added are met with approval. A recent change to Facebook which caused quite a stir among its users was when they changed its format from classic to meta. The purpose of using meta was because it made all users’ newsfeeds look uniform in appearance.
Why it needs to change
The current landscape of social networking is dominated by two platforms: Twitter and Facebook. While both of these platforms can do a lot for your brand and business, it’s no secret that some users and businesses still prefer one over another. For many individuals, Twitter is still one of their preferred means of communication. However, for those who spend a lot of time on Facebook, there is no doubt that being able to post from Twitter into their stream helps users stay up-to-date on all things happening across various networks and mediums.
When a company releases changes that users don’t like, the backlash is inevitable. The main concern with changing from chronological order to something else is that people won’t want to see posts from those they don’t interact with very often (those who post once a month, for example) shoved down their newsfeeds so far that they may never be seen again.
It may also appear as if less of your friend’s content is being shown. These things will make users feel that Facebook isn’t meeting their needs. As soon as you feel as though a company doesn’t care about you, or isn’t trying to make your experience on their website better or more enjoyable, you’ll stop using it altogether.
Why You Should Care About This Change
It’s a subtle change, but a critical one. You’ll start seeing more posts on your feed that may not be explicitly related to your interests but are still on-topic. For example, if you like soccer, you might start seeing more statuses from professional soccer players that comment on politics—which wouldn’t have shown up on your feed before.
The change is designed to allow users to connect with their friends and family in more meaningful ways rather than having a feed full of meaningless content for which they have no interest or emotional connection. Over time, you’ll find that your newsfeed will gradually become less and less cluttered with posts about people you don’t care about.
What Can I Do About This?
If you don’t want a page to appear in News Feed, you can hide it. If you’re uncomfortable with people seeing a page on your profile or being tagged in posts from that page, use privacy settings to hide it. You can also block users if you don’t want their content appearing on your profile. If someone tags you in posts or comments from a certain page, untag yourself from those posts and tell them why they are no longer allowed on your timeline. If they continue, block them as described above.
So What Do You Think About This Change?
The new update is a change from years and years of social media as we know it. For example, think about your own friends—sure, you’re into what they post, but sometimes you don’t really want to see photos of their kids or links about how POTUS has passed another executive order. That doesn’t mean you don’t like them or don’t want to keep in touch; it just means that, for whatever reason, you aren’t at a place where you can appreciate them at that moment in time.
The Bottom Line – How Will This Affect My Business?
This update will largely impact brands and businesses that rely on Facebook for marketing. Like all big changes, you should expect some pushback from users and other businesses. If your business relies heavily on Facebook, or you’re looking to expand into a new platform, now is a good time to evaluate other social media platforms before making any major moves. There is also an opportunity here for small businesses looking for new ways to build their brand.
The bottom line is that your business will suffer if you don’t change your Facebook strategy. The big changes that Facebook has made will require you to change how you use it for advertising and networking. No longer can you just post a status update and watch how it performs over time. Now, you have to spend a lot more time thinking about who your target audience is and what they want to see in their newsfeed. A great way of doing so is by using social media analytics tools like SocialFlow, which help analyze when people engage with certain content in order to refine your strategy.
About The Author
Williams Alfred Onen
Williams Alfred Onen is a degree-holding computer science software engineer with a passion for technology and extensive knowledge in the tech field. With a history of providing innovative solutions to complex tech problems, Williams stays ahead of the curve by continuously seeking new knowledge and skills. He shares his insights on technology through his blog and is dedicated to helping others bring their tech visions to life.
