For many users, Facebook has transformed into more of a business platform rather than a site used for their personal lives. For this reason, the social networking site now offers a new capability where users can convert their personal profiles into business pages.
Since the transition in fan pages on March 10, Facebook made these look virtually identical to profiles, thus suggesting this capability was soon on its way.
Although somewhat of a silent announcement from Facebook, their help center now offers users a very easy guide to follow in how to make this change. Upon visiting the site to change a profile, users will see this screen:
Once users decide which type of page they are going to convert to, their profile picture will be carried over along with all of their friends; during this transition all friends will automatically become fans of the business page.
Having this ability to permanently convert a profile to a business page would seem ideal to users interesting in maintaining a professional presence within the social network. Additionally, many page administrators or consultants may prefer this adjustment if their sole use of Facebook is business-related.
For all users who do make the switch, any content within a profile will be lost unless it was previously saved in an external location. Those considering this change should first save down all of the information they have saved on their personal profiles prior to confirming this transition.
Offering users this ability to convert personal profiles into a business page can make independent business professionals’ lives a lot easier in social media – especially when establishing their presence. This transition skips a step for that user, and already lays down the foundation for their Facebook business page as previous friends immediately become fans.
