A Lack of Likes
The algorithm is ever-changing, and recently Facebook announced that business pages no longer have the ‘like’ function. The reason that they have made this change, is to prioritize page Follows.
Users can still like individual posts by the business, but now the page itself.
Facebook has often tried various new ways to make the user experience more fluid and smoother, and this update to Business Pages looks like it fits into that approach.
The changes
The new layout is simpler, and easier to navigate. Ultimately is is promoting users to have a more positive experience. Who doesn’t love a refresh?! They also rolled out a dedicated News Feed for Pages, which will improve the overall experience. This is a great opportunity for Business Pages because they will be able to get involved in News Feed activity and gain value.
Why remove Likes?
With the evolution of the algorithm, Likes just aren’t the key metric that they used to be. Even on instagram, we are seeing views and saves prioritized over likes. Facebook feels that Followers is a much more important metric than Likes, simply because the number of Followers a Page has shows how many people receive updates from the Page. All of this seems to be a part of a larger push to make Pages more effective for users. That, plus the News Feed addition, is something that naturally builds in engagement. If used correctly, it could mean a much more positive experience for your hospital!