The new Facebook and its consequences

We lost a Fan today. 

And given the feedback on the new Facebook and how just about everything posted on Fan Pages ends up in the individual Fan’s stream, I can’t say I blame people for wanted to cut down the chatter and the clutter.

We have been experimenting on the THP Fan Page, as I’m guessing others have as well.  When every time you post a client’s success ora status update it ends up being blasted to fans, that’s at least one or two posts a day.  Multiply that by the similar updates from friends and other “fanned” pages and you have the new Facebook information barrage that people are explaining about.

For marketers this will likely mean continued experimentation and a period during which they will gain and likely lose some people.  Not because those people aren’t fans any more, but because they don’t have the time, patience and energy to be fans to as many as before.

Over time, marketers will learn when to crank the volume up or back off.  Facebookers will also learn that there are tools built into the program to filter out specific friends and Fan Pages.

But for now and a little while longer, all of us including me will have to develop a think skin.