The evolving world of social media is frequently used to leverage a business. Nearly every major company has a Twitter and Facebook page but using them correctly is an art that is not easily mastered. Twitter shouldn't just be used for blogpost updates, likewise Facebook shouldn't just be used to push a companies Twitter feed. Knowing how to use different mediums of social media properly can be very beneficial to a company.

Facebook recently launched a major redesign and amped up the functionality of its '"pages". Currently, users have the option to switch to the new design but beginning March 1st all pages will be automatically switched. Though I promise once people learn about the new features they will not be hesitant to switch, like every normal user is with each change Facebook implements (If 2,462,183 people join this group they will change back to the old facebook).

The page redesign mimics the look of a users profile, but the expanded functionality is what is most beneficial to businesses. Facebook pages will let administrators change the default view for their wall to 'everyone' or 'only posts by page'. The user can switch between these from a tab in the top right corner. The 'everyone' view sorts the posts by relevance as opposed to reverse chronological order, although the posts by page in the 'everyone' view will be mixed in in reverse chronological order. Businesses can opt for the 'only posts by page' view if they ideally want to direct the user to external sites.

Page administrators have the most control over their page with the moderation function. Facebook will hide certain comments and posts based on the predetermined metrics. There are two choices, profanity blocker and moderation block list. The profanity blocker is simple, it can be set to none, medium, or strong. The moderation block list allows the user to input certain words to hide posts containing those. There are obvious words that would be advantageous to put in the moderation block list (sucks, terrible, horrible). But, administrators can also use this feature to block competitors names or other content they wish to not be displayed on their page.

The new Facebook Pages allows for more control over the content being displayed and features a better user experience. It will undoubtedly help business leverage themselves using Facebook.

pictures from technorati and insidefacebook