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It’s been a busy week for Facebook.  Just this week alone, they’ve rolled out 3 pretty big changes affecting both fan pages and profiles.   Let’s dive right into the updates and what they mean for you.

25 “Likes” Requirement for Vanity URL – GONE!

We’ll start with what could be the biggest shocker.  In the past, Facebook has required that Fan Pages receive a predetermined number of “Likes” before allowing a page to have a custom, vanity URL.  In the beginning, that number was 1,000.  Until yesterday, that number was 25.  Now, you can get your vanity URL when you create your page.  Hopefully, this will eliminate some of the shameless begging that the 25 “Like” requirement forced some new page owners to do.

Ability to View Who Shares Your Posts

This next change is definitely something that most people will like.  Facebook will now show you how many times your post has been shared – and when you click on the link, it will show you who shared it.  You can see that in the images here.

 
This is great in that it really allows you to see who is just viewing your posts and who sees the value in it and reposts it. I would say that most page owners would feel that this is a change that is long overdue.

Subscribing to People

This update pertains to personal profiles, but it’s still a big change, so we thought we’d touch on it here briefly. Facebook is now allowing people to subscribe to other people. What this means is that someone can subscribe to your posts that you classify as “Public”, and they would see these updates – without having to become your friend. If you classify a post or update as “Friends” or “Custom”, then anyone who subscribes to you will not see it.

To activate subscriptions on your profile, just go to your profile, then click “Subscriptions” in the menu on the left. Then just click on the “Allow Subscriptions” button, and voila! People can now subscribe to you!

This update pretty much eliminates the 5,000 friend ceiling, as you can have your maximum number of “friends”, but still have many more people subscribe to you.

What’s your feeling about these changes? Do you like them? Do they matter to you? Comment below and let us know!