Facebook’s New Updates Spark More References to Twitter

Lesley Gross - September 23, 2009

Facebook has been very busy this past week. Not only have they have now topped 300 million active users, they have also launched two new simplistic features; Facebook Lite and Status Tagging. Many believe this is all in an attempt to stay competitive with Twitter, while at the same time pleasing their ever-growing user base.

Facebook Lite, is a pared down version of the original social media channel. Originally created for users with a slow Internet connection, the ‘Lite’ version does not include any applications, engagement ads or custom features that we have become so accustomed to seeing. Brand pages seem to have the most to lose from this new version, if it catches on. The search function is enabled only for profiles and not groups or pages, making it that much harder for a page to be found.

Facebook’s Status Tagging is set to function similar to Twitter’s @mentions. You can now tag any profile, group or page within your status updates. This is a great new way for pages to be able to interact with fans. However, reputation management within Facebook will now become a full-time job, with companies needing to stay abreast of all mentions of their brand within Facebook. 

Now, more than ever, businesses using Facebook need to develop and execute a clear-cut strategy for the channel and understand how each of these new features can affect their online goals with social media marketing.