Facebook changing “Become a Fan” to “Like”

Posted on Apr 1, 2010 in Facebook, Social Media

Facebook has begun alerting advertisers that they will be making a small, but significant, wording change. Instead of clicking “Become a Fan” to start following a brand, users will now have to click a “Like” button.

Why is Facebook doing this? According to Facebook, the “Like” button offers “a simple, consistent way for people to connect with the things they are interested in … in fact, people click “Like” almost two times more than they click “Become a Fan” everyday.”

I think brands will be able to adjust to this change, but I think it could be confusing for users. For example, when users “Like” a particular brand, are they going to be aware of what they are opting in to (i.e., receiving updates from the brand)?

There’s no timetable of when the new “Like” button will be rolled out. Below is a document that Facebook sent out explaining the change – including tips for how advertisers should handle this change and FAQs. One thing that I found interesting in this document is that Facebook recommends calling your fans  ”Connections on Facebook” or “People who like us on Facebook.”

Fb Language Change PDF

View more documents from biznickman.
What are your thoughts on these changes?
  • atlantajones

    My response will be in the form of a comic strip :)

  • Josh Martin

    I like the way you think! Let me know when it's ready and I'll throw it in the blog post.

  • http://www.ubervu.com/conversations/welcometojmart.com/2010/04/facebook-changing-become-a-fan-to-like/ uberVU – social comments

    Social comments and analytics for this post…

    This post was mentioned on Twitter by Jmart730: New blog post: Facebook changing “Become a Fan” to “Like” http://bit.ly/bCQ6sj...

  • http://www.atlantajones.com Andrew Jones

    My response will be in the form of a comic strip :)

  • http://ilikebigputts.com Josh Martin

    I like the way you think! Let me know when it's ready and I'll throw it in the blog post.

  • http://welcometojmart.com/2010/04/the-like-button-has-arrived/ The “Like” button has arrived

    [...] Facebook changing “Become a Fan” to “Like” Apr 19 [...]

  • http://statusthis.com/2010/04/do-you-like-me-click-one/ Status THIS – Do You Like Me? Click One.

    [...] the recent F8 Developers Conference, Facebook recently changed “Become a Fan” to “Like” when it comes to registering your feelings about your favorite brands, artists, etc. Seemed that [...]

  • http://welcometojmart.com/2010/05/how-to-create-a-facebook-page/ HOW TO: Create a Facebook Page

    [...] Pages located with Facebook? According to Facebook, more than 5.3 billion users have become a fan, errrr scratch that, connected with Pages. These Facebook Pages range from organizations and brands to celebrities and [...]

  • http://www.happyaccidentscomic.com/2010/04/27/do-you-like-me-click-one/ Happy Accidents – Do You Like Me? Click One.

    [...] the recent F8 Developers Conference, Facebook recently changed “Become a Fan” to “Like” when it comes to registering your feelings about your favorite brands, artists, etc. Seemed that [...]