Facebook timeline for brands: The good, bad and ugly

Facebook recently launched the new Facebook Pages with Timeline integration. The new pages are on the preview mode till March 30th and after that it will be an auto-update for all brand pages out there.We look at what's new and what's changing in this brief look at the upgrade.

On Feb 29th Facebook announced the new Facebook Pages, which brings the Timeline (the fancy new Facebook profile system) to Brand Pages too. Along with it comes a flurry of upgrades, including a much needed Admin panel, the ability to message brand pages, pinned posts and activity logs for pages. The new pages are on the preview mode till March 30th (though you can upgrade your page right away) and after that it will be an auto-update for all brand pages out there.

With the Timeline coming to Pages, you can now set a Cover photo for your brand and highlight stories right from when your brand was created to the present (the Harley Davidson [https://www.facebook.com/harley-davidson] page is doing it right!). This time around you can also pin a story to the top of the page (though featuring and pinning doesnt work together) and the story will pinned to the top of the page for 7 days.

One of the most troublesome change is the changes to the Apps system. The navigation links for the pages have now moved to tabs on top and the apps work in new pages. This will raise a lot of noise. First: You can now only feature upto 12 apps. Second: The layout canvas for apps has changed, so many apps will soon need to be redesigned. Then the default landing tabs are gone too. On the brighter side, you can now invite your friends to your Facebook page again.

Then there are Milestones (you know them as Life Events in your profile) and the Activity Log showing up with pages too. Then is one of the most exciting additions - the Admin Panel.

The Admin Panel serves as the nerve center for managing your page. It clearly highlights your page's recent performance and points you to related sections easily. Here, you can view all your notifications, respond to fan messages, see Page Insights and edit your page. Another new addition is the ability of fans sending messages to Pages, which can make way for more sensitive private communications between Fans and Pages.

A considerable chunk of userbase on Facebook did not appreciate the Timeline for Profiles (though a it was a hit with the majority), the new Facebook Pages is definitely going to cause some uproar (apps being a major reason, and other CTR considerations) this time. What do you think about the new Facebook Pages?