Facebook drops 'like' button from public pages; redesigns pages

After redesigning its pages,Social media app major 'Facebook' has said that it has dropped the 'like' button from pages of public figures, brands and artists. The same will be replaced by followers count and the page will have a dedicated section for news feed where users can join conversations, interact with peers and engage with fans, the company said in a blog post.

"We are removing Likes and focusing on Followers to simplify the way people connect with their favourite pages," Facebook said in a statement.  Easy navigation between personal profile and pages, updated task-based admin controls, actionable insights, safety and integrity features are some of the new additional features.  

Facebook also said that the new page design will make it easier for people to navigate between a personal profile and a public page. The new design has been made simpler and more streamlined than before.

To enhance the page visibility to a wider audience, followers, news feeds, comments from public figures will be bumped to the top of the comment section. People will also be able to follow a page directly from comments and recommendations posts, the blog read.

The social media giant also said that it has improved its ability to detect illegal activities like hate speech, violent, sexual or spam content and impersonation on its platform. In order to curb this, Facebook is expanding the visibility of the verified badge to make it easier to identify posts and comments from authentic pages and profiles.