I hear that as at 31 March, facebook are bringing in timeline for business pages. I thought it worthy of a new thread rather than derail others.
Not all business users are happy with the changes. The old business Pages used to allow administrators to specify a particular view or “landing tab” for users clicking through to their site; under the new design, Timeline view is always the default view for users following links to a brand page.
I personally hate the thing and find it not relevant to my usage of FB let alone a business. It's clunky and I find it doesn't scroll properly. You scroll down and it jumps up all the time. I thought it was just me but my daughter also has this problem. We are on super fast broadband, so I don't think it's to do with internet speed.
I've taken the liberty of putting some quotes from another fb thread here regarding timeline.
Windy wrote:Ray - You are going to be particularly ecstatic to hear that Facebook have just announced that all FB pages will be converted to the new Timeline format as of 31st March.
It makes a right muddle of the layout - the extra tabs are now even less visible.
I do wish they'd just leave things alone for 5 minutes. They are like little boys who've just discovered their naughty bits - forever playing with them just because they can .
kendalcottages wrote:I was rather hoping they might abandon this Timeline nonsense.
I've resisted it with my own Profile page because I think... well... it's awful! I had rather hoped there was going to be sufficient backlash that it might make Facebook think again, but seemingly that's not going to be the case.
marshfrog wrote:I was resisting it on my personal page too until I was forced into it, but a word of warning, FB have become very sneaky. I 'liked' an action group that is near my holiday let as I agree with their argument. In order to view an article that appeared interesting I had to give permission to access my profile etc - nothing unusual in that, most apps have that & I have clicked on the 'agree' button loads of times before for stuff. Only this time it was different - just the second I clicked 'agree' I read underneath that it would then automatically change my personal page to their rotten timeline style I hate the look of it but I have it now. I can only view my page as timeline and everyone else will see my profile as timeline in 7 days. It is particularly sneaky as it is their way of fiddling the stats in favour of how many people have changed to the timeline. I cant undo it. I am stuck with it now Then I see they are doing it to our business pages too I didnt see much point in prolonging the agony, so I have published my business page as the timeline now.
Well its not personal marshfrog but I don't like it!
I'm guessing we'll be stuck with it until they change to the next format.
Rather than go back to the old, which I suppose makes it look like they are losing face/backing down, they'll more likely come up with another "improvement".
I hate it when people try to fix something that isn't broken.
I once started a thread called 'Is Twitter the worst thing since sliced bread?' But I have started using Twitter a little and in terms of useability I think it is good. For me the worst site in the whole wide world in terms of useability is Facebook. Timeline makes worse what is already pretty poor.
I'm fuming too. Just come in from a lovely, hot - yes, hot - day's gardening and I discovered this. I hate the timeline with a vengeance and have really no desire at all to find out how to use it to my advantage and all that, but I don't believe for one minute that FB will take any notice of all the negative feedback they're going to get so like the rest of you I guess we're stuck with it ... Thanks for those links, Nemo. I expect when I've picked my dummy off the floor I might (just) find it in me to have a look at what they say.
It's particularly galling for those of us who just thought we were getting somewhere with all this, isn't it?!
I rather like it You can put a lovely big picture of your place at the top. I think facebook for your property is maybe OK to be kept very simple - just pics, map, friends and timeline seems more than enough. But I guess it's galling if you've got things just how you want them and then they change :/
The sentiments are fine about it being free, but when social media become such an important (potentially) part of your business, then whether it's free or not becomes irrelevant. You ignore it or walk away at your peril.
Does no-one else get the problem I have with scrolling and jumping? On a profile or page that is mainly photos I don't find it usable quite frankly.
I get that too Nemo. Seems to load all the text and then the pictures so that the entire page leaps up and down like a yoyo. Makes a mockery of the so-called selling point of being able to use big pictures ... And it's slow to load too.
Is there any way to stop photos being cropped to a square aspect ratio with the timeline view?
If not I'm going to have to get back into the mindset of using 120 roll film when taking pictures for Facebook - but I'd rather not have to be thinking of how a shot will work in 3:2 and 1:1.
Apart from that, I'm not too upset with the new view, but haven't really been actively using Facebook long enough to get attached to the old one!
I've always had that jumping problem, since before Timeline. It's a pain, I agree. I imagine they'll fix it at some point.
I think with facebook (and all social media), you have to have a slightly fatalistic approach. It will change. It always will. Things will move around, picture aspect ratios will shift, tabs will move etc etc as the priorities and needs of those using it (and those running it) change.
You can't stop this, so the answer is not to get too worried about it. What do people want from your FB page? To me it's:
- to get a feel for your personality
- to be reassured that you exist
- to have a quick look at some pics
They will be familiar with the current Facebook layout, so they'll know where to find these things.
Maybe it's best not too expect too much from Facebook. It's a nice adjunct to your site, but trying to turn it into your own thing is always going to end in frustration.
I thought it worthy of a new thread rather than derail others.
You can put a lovely big picture of your place at the top. I think facebook for your property is maybe OK to be kept very simple - just pics, map, friends and timeline seems more than enough. But I guess it's galling if you've got things just how you want them and then they change :/