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Facebook for Churches – New Facebook a Game-Changer

Posted On : Mar-31-2009 | seen (1754) times | Article Word Count : 494 |

Since the creation of Facebook Pages, these “pages” have been almost completely useless because there was no interactivity between the pages and the “newsfeeds” of people’s profile. But now all that has changed and that is a major game changer for churches.
On March 4th, Facebook announced some major changes. Users began to see this notice at the top of their “homepage”

Changes to the Home page are coming soon

Learn about the new features ahead of time. This is happening soon; check out the home page tour now.

It looks like the look and organization of the homepage and wall have gotten another makeover.

But Facebook announced an even more significant change - to Facebook “pages,” the facet of Facebook designed for businesses and organizations. This news is a total game-changer for churches.

As announced on the Facebook blog on March 4th found at, blog.facebook.com/blog.php?post=57822962130:

Starting today, we are announcing new profiles for public figures and organizations. Once called Pages, these new profiles will now begin looking and functioning just like user profiles.

Another post later in the day provides more details:

Now, major media outlets like The New York Times can use their public profile to share breaking developments that will stream directly into your News Feed… You can connect with organizations like the American Red Cross or Service Nation.

The big problem with Facebook pages up until now has been that they had no interaction with their “fans’” newsfeeds. A person could become a “fan” of a church, organization, or business, but then there was nothing to draw that person back to the page. As a result there was almost no interaction on pages, making them almost completely useless. What’s the point of having “fans” if you never interact with them?

This change to make pages more like profiles changes all that.

Now Facebook pages have a “status” just like individual profiles. When an organization changes their status, that change appears in their “fans’” newsfeed, notifying them and giving them the opportunity to comment or click to the organization’s page.

Facebook didn’t specifically state this in their blog, but I assume the same will be true for other page features. When an organization adds photos, video, links, or notes to their page, those updates will probably also appear in their fans’ newsfeed.

I can already see changes to my church’s Facebook page.

Pages are now more like profiles. Update your Page now.

Pages now look and behave more like user profiles. You can more easily publish content to your Page’s Wall and gain distribution through News Feed. Learn about how to take advantage of the new features.

And there’s a link to a new Facebook Pages Guide at facebook.com/advertising/FacebookPagesProductGuide.pdf.

I’m really pumped about these changes! Can’t wait to try them out! In fact, I’m gonna do that now and post more later.

I’ve also created a Facebook page for OurChurch.Com. Check it out and become a fan.

What are your thoughts on these changes at Facebook?

Please post your comments on the Christian Web Trends blog where this article first appeared:

blog.ourchurch.com/2009/03/05/facebook-for-churches-changes/

Article Source : http://www.articleseen.com/Article_Facebook for Churches – New Facebook a Game-Changer_278.aspx

Author Resource :
Paul Steinbrueck founded OurChurch.Com along with his brother Mark in 1996 and has served as OCC's CEO and CTO since its inception. OurChurch.Com is a leading provider of custom web design, Christian website hosting, marketing, and advertising to Christian organizations and individuals. He is married and has three young children. He serves in his church as an elder and small group leader.

Keywords : Facebook, Facebook Pages, churches, social networking,

Category : Internet Business : SEO

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