Many of our clients have Facebook pages, and I always start out working with them by saying, “Just remember, once you get used to using your Facebook page for your company, Facebook will change everything.”

I was starting to feel that the time was right for Facebook to change “everything,” since it’s been quite awhile – kind of like when you feel your knee injury throb when a storm’s brewing, or how you know your children are doing something they shouldn’t because the house has gone silent.

You’re Not Alone in Your Dismay

According to a recent article on All Facebook, public status updates that complain about the new layout – as well as the comments – “…defy measurement.” Personally, I compared the changes to the recent proposed Qwikster/Netflix Fail (that may have been a bit dramatic).

The point is, change is the (one?) consistent in life, and we typically don’t enjoy facing it.  But here it is, and we can help!

So What are the Big Facebook Changes?

I’m going to use shots of my own home page as an example as well as the Verticalwerks Facebook page, since navigating a personal page versus a business page differs slightly.

Navigating Your Personal Facebook Page

Here’s a screen shot of my Home page:

1. This is the button to get to your Home Page. This is where the NewsFeed shows up, letting you know what everyone else is up to.

2. This is the Ticker, a new feature that lets you see what people are doing and saying in real time. You can hover over an entry in the ticker and respond immediately. This is where the status updates are found in order (as opposed to #4 below).

3. You now need to click on what you’d like to contribute at the top of the Facebook page, whether that’s words of wisdom or a photo or two.

4. See that faint blue triangle in the corner? Facebook now puts on the your NewsFeed what they “think” you will prefer reading. If you click the faint blue triangle, the entry will be removed from your “Top Stories.” If you hover over the right side (directly opposite of the little blue triangle), there will be an icon you can click to choose whether to hide the entry, hide all entries from that person, read everything that person writes, etc.

The left side of the Facebook page is my FAVORITE PART!

5. If you want to, you can put all of your friends into separate contact lists based on how you know them. Then to check their status updates, you simply click on one of your lists and there they are.

6. Here are your pages – your business page will show up here. Then you can click on the link to take you to your business page!

Navigating Your Business Facebook Page

The Business pages appear to have been left out of the Facebook NewsFeed redesign, and operate on the old system.

1. This area shows you the Administrators of your page, who are the people who are authorized to make changes to this page

2. This handy section allows you to operate on Facebook through your business. You also receive notifications of people who have chosen to Like your page or leave messages on your wall. You can also “View Insights,” which is feedback about who, when and how much people have visited your page.

3. The left sidebar allows you to perform a variety of tasks, including uploading information, posting cool things on your wall, or uploading and sharing pictures.

If you don’t care for the Facebook changes, don’t worry – you’re not alone. But I also think the fury will die down, probably by tomorrow. I like the way The Oatmeal puts it:

Kelly Wilson is a copywriter for Verticalwerks Interactive Media. What’s your story? Let Verticalwerks help you share it with the world.