What Does Facebook's New Subscribe Feature Really Mean? • We Blog The World

Facebook now has a subscribe button so you can either subscribe to friends or subscribe to people’s feeds who are not friends. The idea would be that rather than clutter your news feed up with everyone you know, you can subscribe to certain aspects of their lives (personal, professional) or both and not others.

Additionally you subscribe to journalists, celebrities, political figures and other people too just like you would subscribe to their RSS feed for example. For each person, you could hide all game stories, see just photos, limit updates to life events and more.

Clearly this is something Facebook should have done a long time ago and it could be a desperate attempt to keep people locked in or woo others to come back who may have left for a much cleaner Google+ with its nifty “circles” approach.

The difference between the “subscribe” button and a page is largely around whether you’re a business or celebrity.

If you’re a business, Facebook forces you into the “page route.” If you’re an individual with a lot of friends or your business just warrants that you know a lot of people (sales, new business development, PR, marketing — this is my situation btw and I’ve exceeded my 5,000 limit), then you’re stuck going to a “page” when it may not really be the best solution.

Their example is of a public figure such as Malcolm Gladwell, who can use a profile with “Subscribe”, a page or both. A few differences between them below:

Pages can be maintained by multiple people on your team, offer insights to understand who your fans are, and let you target posts by language and location (ex: Tell only fans in New York about your show there next week). You can also promote Pages with Facebook Ads and Sponsored Stories.

Renee Blodgett

Renee Blodgett is the founder of We Blog the World. The site combines the magic of an online culture and travel magazine with a global blog network and has contributors from every continent in the world. Having lived in 10 countries and explored nearly 80, she is an avid traveler, and a lover, observer and participant in cultural diversity.

She is also the CEO and founder of Magic Sauce Media, a new media services consultancy focused on viral marketing, social media, branding, events and PR. For over 20 years, she has helped companies from 12 countries get traction in the market. Known for her global and organic approach to product and corporate launches, Renee practices what she pitches and as an active user of social media, she helps clients navigate digital waters from around the world. Renee has been blogging for over 16 years and regularly writes on her personal blog Down the Avenue, Huffington Post, BlogHer, We Blog the World and other sites. She was ranked #12 Social Media Influencer by Forbes Magazine and is listed as a new media influencer and game changer on various sites and books on the new media revolution. In 2013, she was listed as the 6th most influential woman in social media by Forbes Magazine on a Top 20 List.

Her passion for art, storytelling and photography led to the launch of Magic Sauce Photography, which is a visual extension of her writing, the result of which has led to producing six photo books: Galapagos Islands, London, South Africa, Rome, Urbanization and Ecuador.

Renee is also the co-founder of Traveling Geeks, an initiative that brings entrepreneurs, thought leaders, bloggers, creators, curators and influencers to other countries to share and learn from peers, governments, corporations, and the general public in order to educate, share, evaluate, and promote innovative technologies.