Some Facebook users may be wishing that city crumbling is Palo Alto, home of the Facebook HQ. But there's no need to wish evil upon Facebook.

I have to admit, that was sort of my first reaction. I don’t like admitting that my attitude can be a bit negative, but sometimes I can be a downer at a blogging party.

 “BAD” -the Attitude of Bloggers Sometimes (including me) 

The new facebook timeline for business pages is giving a lot of people problems. This isn’t the end of the world, but some people feel it may be just that. They figure if the Mayans say the end of the world will be in 2012, the new facebook timeline for business pages  (and personal pages) is just the beginning of what the Mayans predicted.

I found this prevailing negative attitude about the new facebook timeline for business pages after I searched for, “Facebook timeline landing pages” on Google. The reason for my inquiry was that I had just updated my facebook business landing page to just how I wanted it to appear. I had been lagging behind in getting this done, but finally, I updated my facebook business page for PizzaaSpotz.com, our everything pizza website.

If you use Facebook, beware of Identity Theft

After updating our facebook business page, I clicked the “publish new facebook timeline now,” button.  I even clicked on the “sure, I want to do this even though I know my changes can never be undone and I’ll never be able to go back to the old Facebook business page look ever ever ever ever again,” button. In reality, that button is just the “Are you sure you want to publish this without a cover photo?” Oh my, I quickly found out I shouldn’t have rushed to push that button.

I took one look at my new Facebook timeline for my business page and asked one glaring question, “Where is my landing page?” I clicked on the welcome button underneath where my cover photo will one day go.  “Welcome” was the title of my landing page.  Ah, there was my landing page, but now my facebook landing page was just a welcome page that people could click if they so wanted.  But that’s not what I wanted, I wanted my facebook landing page to look the same and function the same in the new Facebook timeline for business pages as it did with the old look.

My Search for Answers 

I quickly searched for answers. I didn’t find many. Most of the posts I found about the new facebook timelines for business pages were just highlights (or lowlights as some might consider them) of what would change. The big text I saw in many of them read, “No more Facebook  landing pages, “ or no more “fan gates,” or “no more like-gates.”

The more I searched, the more I found answers. I was pointed to the facebook.com/livestrong page. They figured a way to point people toward their “like” button without breaking any of the new rules about Facebook Cover Photos (no asking people to like your page, etc).  Their logo is quite ingenious. Take a look for yourself.  I also found out that you could still guide website visitors to go to your previous Facebook landing page, just copy the link to your previous landing page, go to your website and add that link to any “visit our Facebook page”  text you currently have or add that link to your Facebook icon on your website.  If that was your number one way of getting visitors to your facebook page, you can still get them to go to your former landing page, even though the new Facebook timeline for business pages no longer offer the ability to have landing pages.

No, this landing page workaround is not perfect. It may even seem a little bit unprofessional.  You can see how I do it for PizzaSpotz.com by going to our site and clicking the “Like us On Facebook” which is near the heading of every blog post or page. I am sure there will be even better ways of doing this, the pinning of certain posts to the top of your new Facebook timeline is one such option.

What’s Your Attitude Today? 

A lot of people are mad about this new policy for(bidding)  landing pages on the new Facebook timeline. One comment on a blog I read complained about this new change, saying, “this sucks” and even more negative comments about it. The blogger replied with a good response, “Why are you so mad?”  The blogger went on in his reply to the negative comment with the suggestion to visit facebook.com/livestrong and said things aren’t as bad as the commenter thought they were.   I went to the negative guy’s website to see who he was. It was a developer who had made many facebook fan and business pages.  He didn’t seem like that negative of a guy, but he was a little like me, he let his frustration talk (or type in this case) before he had time to think about the situation.

Sometimes the only difference between a good and bad attitude, is the time we take to think about our situation.

Are You Mad, Glad or Indifferent About the new Facebook Timeline? 

If you’re a bit upset, let out your feelings below.  I’ll try, along with others, to assure you things will get better. If you’re glad, let everyone know what you like about the new Facebook timeline. If you’re indifferent,  be loud and outspoken about it. Or at least let us know what kind of pizza you like. Maybe I can post a “Top Ten Pizzas Liked by Indifferent Facebook Users” list over at my PizzaSpotz.com  facebook page.  : )

Mad, glad or indifferent, I’d love your comments below.