Facebook has just rolled out a new feature for Pages that encourages page administrators to purchase more promotions by highlighting their most engaging posts. As seen above, in the Admin Panel posts that Facebook considers to be “more engaging than many of your other posts” are highlighted in yellow. This appears to be part of a continued effort by Facebook to drive up advertising dollars via paid promotions. Recently Facebook doubled up on the “boost post” links which you’ll now find hovering around your posts in two places (both directly above and directly below each post) and within the admin panel for your 5 most recent posts (again, flanked by the boost posts links at the top and bottom).
Taking a look at some theories behind the meaning and typical responses to different colors, it’s no wonder the new boost post messages are highlighted in yellow. Psychologists and designers alike have speculated that the color yellow activates our memory, stimulates our nervous system and even encourages communication. This hypothesis was probably taken into consideration by the Facebook team too, who are certainly looking to encourage you to communicate with more of your fans, albeit through a paid promotion. That, and, well, the color, stands out like a banana on top of a bowl of cereal with no corn flakes left!
I’ve been pretty vocal about my displeasure toward recent changes made by Facebook that have killed the virality of many posts by business pages. Facebook, however, does have a business to operate and now plenty of stock holders to answer to, so I can’t blame them for this move.
Have you seen this latest change on your Facebook page yet? Do you think this will lead you to promoting more posts or is it just another annoyance to deal with while managing your page?