Facebook Page Comments Go Public

Today Facebook announced new changes at their f8 conference.

There is always a lot of hoopla and excitement associated with this annual event, though I’ll reserve my comments for later.

My ongoing promise to you is to not just report the news – but to give you a thoughtful perspective on what it means for your small business.

Technology is like a shiny new toy that creates a great deal of excitement. We all get that.

However, if you can remember back to when you were a little kid who had just received a new toy, what was your response after the initial surprise?

What does it do?  

Yep, and that primal instinct still applies today to your business practices.

That’s what we do here.  Thus far this week we’ve discussed Facebook Subscribers and Smart Lists – both of which in my opinion are favorable enhancements for social networking and marketing.

Today’s topic is a feature that could work for you, or against you – unless you are prepared for it.  As of yesterday, anyone can comment on your Facebook page.

Previously, one had to Like a page in order to make comments. No more.  Now commenting on Facebook pages is open to the general public.  And this is making a lot of folks nervous.

Why You Should Love All Comments

Comments are one of the most loved and feared aspects of social media.

If you have ever read the comments on USA Today or ESPN, you know that they are predominantly the work of trolls that delight in controversy.  While I rarely get negative comments here, I welcome them all.  Why?

Negative comments are an opportunity to clarify.  You can provide new perspectives that will win over some of the naysayers.  And even if you don’t, you have taken a stronger stand that communicates something to your true fans.

So, love those comments.  Another reason you should love all comments is that traffic sends a signal to Google and the other search engines that gets your content ranked higher.

What’s not to love about that?

The Friends Activity Tab

Concurrent with the public commenting change, Facebook added a new Friends Activity tab to your page.

This is hugely valuable for businesses because it creates a ready historical reference of what your Facebook friends have most liked about your page.

So, imagine that your business has been referred to a new prospect.  They can now go deeper into your content to learn what you have done well.  For example, one of my accomplishments was being ranked in Technorati’s Top 100 Small Business Top blogs in the world.

Accomplishments like this are now shared with future visitors to my page – compliments of Facebook. In other words, Facebook is helping you and me with our marketing via the Friends Activity tab.

I can even envision using a QR code to direct others to this tab. It’s never a good idea to be be too self-promoting, but now that Facebook is serving up some of your best work you may as well take advantage of it.

My first impression of these changes was negative.  Yet, after studying it further I realize they are good for my small business. 

How about you?

Leave a comment below or share this with your community on with any of the share buttons below – or on the little red bar at the bottom of this page.  

Until tomorrow,  Jeff

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