To be honest, Facebook (FB) Subscriptions is just FB adopting the Twitter model isn’t it? Where Facebook has historically been about creating a more personal social network based around friends and family, Twitter is more a voyeuristic social network allowing anyone to follow anyone and see everything they post. So, whilst you can use Twitter to communicate with friends and family etc its basic model is thus; you post any random thought in your head (140 characters at a time) and any random fellow who follows you will see those arbitrary thoughts show up in their Twitter feed.

Recently Google has had a go. When Google launched the Google+ social network, it created a sort of hybrid of Twitter and Facebook. Google+ also lets you put others in Circles (a.k.a. “follow”) who are not part of your social network. The Circles concept, and the ability to choose who will see a given post on a case by case basis enables you to switch seamlessly between sharing personal information with family and friends, as well as posting tech news, sports highlights, and other items that interest you to the public domain.

Now, these evolutions all lead onto the new FB subscribe functionality and why it works on a personal and business level. There are two reasons that I am embracing Facebook Subscriptions, and will be eventually abandoning my Facebook Page. One is that it makes it simpler to manage Facebook, and two is that it creates the potential for more dynamic, engaging dialogue.

Relying on Subscriptions rather than maintaining a separate Facebook Page cuts your effort in half. Right now you basically manage two separate Facebook profiles – one personal and one public. You have to switch back and forth to check notifications and wall posts don’t you. There are times when I have posted the same topic to both my personal Facebook social network, and my Facebook Page. Each discussion is valuable on its own, but merging the voices into one conversation makes a whole that is more valuable than the sum of its parts. I have to flip from one to the other to read and respond to comments at the moment, but not anymore. Segregating the personal and public profiles also limits the discussion. Posting something to the general public opens the dialogue to different perspectives and concepts that bring life to the conversation and expand the horizons for all involved.

What do you think?