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Facebook tests new Pages that feel more like Instagram and Twitter

The new layout emphasizes follower counts and does away with Likes.

Facebook

Facebook is rolling out a set of experimental features to select English-language Pages after using celebrities’ accounts for their initial testing. One of those experimental features is a brand new layout for its mobile apps that puts the focus on the Page’s name, description and Follower count. As you can see in the comparison of the old (left) and the new (right) layouts above, the new one bears a resemblance to Instagram and Twitter profile pages. It looks more like a social media profile than a website now, with a Page’s details and Stories at the top to replace the About and the Page Transparency sections.

The new Page design completely does away with the Like button and the number of Likes — as TechCrunch notes, users can Like a Page and then unfollow it after, making Like numbers an unreliable metric. The Follower count represents the actual number of people getting a Page’s updates on their Feed, which means it can more accurately show a Page’s reach than the number of Likes can.

In addition to a new layout, Facebook is also giving select Page owners/managers access to new account management features. It’s now easier to navigate between their personal profiles and their public-facing Pages, and it’s also easier to assign and manage admin access permissions. They can access new insights, as well, including metrics showing the top performing posts and their Page’s audience overlap with its connected Instagram account. You’ll likely see the new layout more now that Facebook has expanded its tests, but since it’s only an experimental feature, it may never be widely available.