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the myspace-ing of facebook

Facebook recently announced some major revisions to its Pages functionality, the likes of which impact virtually every client we work with (in a good way... more control, greater impact, better functionality!). Less advertised -- at least initially -- was the announcement regarding facebook's transition from FBML to iFrames support, but this seems like the more substantive announcement.

To summarize the change, facebook Page functionality will no longer be limited to basic FBML 'tabs' and customizations. Instead, marketers will be able to apply their full web development expertise -- dynamic personalization, rich multimedia, and visitor tracking -- to the attention grabbing center column of users' facebook views. Of course, facebook is counting on this reaction from brands, hoping that it will further solidify its role in the social media marketing mix.

Want a storefront IN facebook? Want to personalize landing pages for target consumers? Want to improve on facebook's drab layout? It can all be your with iFrames...

...and that's part of my concern. You see, there are a lot of bad designers and developers out there. Take MySpace in its early days-- boy, were our self-designed profiles ugly and dysfunctional or what! Facebook, in contrast, keeps us fenced in to its well-structured (if slightly dull) content and layout, a decision that seems to have paid off so far as far as long-term use and acceptance.

So, does the transition to iFrames signal the eventual myspace-ing of facebook? Will facebook's loosening terms of service allow brands to "go nuts" with their Pages?... will I be blogging about the Year's Worst Facebook Page Ideas next year? In either case, make sure you're following the changes/opportunities as they develop, and let us know if you have any questions!

 

Posted by Omri Duek on March 21, 2011 at 04:25 PM | Email this post Permalink

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Comments

This presents an interesting challenge and opportunity to companies already swimming with social media channels for communication. I wonder how far companies will go in developing Facebook content outside of what they already have on their own website.

Posted by: Tim L | Apr 27, 2011 11:20:10 AM

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