SmartBlogs on Social Media

SmartPulse — our weekly reader poll in SmartBrief on Social Media — tracks feedback from leading marketers about social-media practices and issues.

Last week’s poll question: What do you think of the changes Facebook announced last week?

• I wish Facebook would leave well enough alone, 48%
• Facebook is making changes again!? 23%
• I think the changes make sense in this case, 15%
• It doesn’t really affect me, 9%
• I like them. Whatever Facebook does is fine with me, 6%

The poll results testify to our general fatigue regarding Facebook’s constant changes, most of which are made without our consent and, sometimes, without our foreknowledge, or so it seems.

Though I’m not a big fan of using the term “like” for what were previously known as Fan Pages (pun intended of course), I wasn’t a fan of using the term “Fan” either.  Where businesses are concerned, surely there must have been some other label that could have been applied. (“Follower” comes to mind. Even though we associate the term with Twitter, it was good enough for LinkedIn to use relative to their business profiles.)

Just to be clear, Fan Pages are now officially known as “Official” Pages; “unofficial” Pages are being taken down to be replaced by “Community Pages,” and on it goes. (Almost makes one long for the day when all there was were personal profiles and Groups!)

To quote one of my favorite Blood, Sweat and Tears tunes:

“What goes up must come down,
Spinning wheel got to go round,
Talking about your troubles it’s a crying sin;
Ride a painted pony,
Let the spinning wheel spin.”

The Facebook wheel keeps on spinning and changes continue to be made, no matter how fatigued we may get.