Facebook to Change Language from “Become a Fan” to “Like”

During the first week of April the news broke that Facebook was planning to change the language around Fan Pages from "Become a Fan" to "Like." We previously posted on our blog about this to outline the change with our readers, to ensure that it is clear what changes are anticipated for your Facebook Fan Page, but wanted to re-post our explanation when the first instance of the wording change became public on some Facebook Fan Pages. On April 19 the first group of language changes were released on Facebook-- not all users can see the differences yet and not all pages are different, so the change may take some time and occur in waves. We wanted you to know, first and foremost, not to worry! The change is purely in wording, and won't affect the functionality of your Facebook Fan Pages at all.

Facebook already uses the term "Like" for users who are indicating their interest in their friends' posts, feeds, pictures, and updates. In fact, Facebook has done research analyzing use of the "Like" function, and shown that users click the term nearly twice as often as they click to "Become a Fan" of any page. Maybe they're like serial daters, more than happy to "like" all these brands but afraid of making the commitment of becoming a "Fan". Facebook has stated that in changing the wording from "Become a Fan" to "Like," they expect users to be more comfortable committing to use the word around brands and other Fan Pages. Facebook has also said that changing to "Like" from "Become a Fan" will help to streamline the site, so that users feel that indicating their interest in anything from a post to a page can be achieved in a universal language that they have already demonstrated comfort in using.

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Similar to how Facebook users can declare that they "Like" Facebook newsfeeds, statuses, photos, and similar items, soon they will be able to state that they "Like" your Facebook Fan Page, instead of choosing to "Become a Fan."

 

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This could be great news for your Facebook Fan Page, making it easier to build your fan base, if the Facebook users are more comfortable committing to the "Like" button on your company profile over the previous "Become a Fan" button. Fans of your page can still be referred to as "Fans" but over time, the language on your Fan Page may evolve to "People who Like Us on Facebook." Additionally, in newsfeed form, we will begin to see statements like "John Doe likes Wildfire Interactive," instead of "John Doe became a Fan of Wildfire Interactive." We can see, then, that the upcoming change is little more than some different language. In this way, you can expect to keep creating interesting and compelling promotions to engage with Facebook users in the same way you were before any changes were announced. When the new language does go live, our Wildfire Promotion Builder tool will be ready and configured with all the necessary wording updates. Brings a whole new meaning to the common saying, "...they like me! They really like me!"