It’s great that Facebook is offering users this tool, but those interested in the migration should proceed with extreme caution. I unintentionally committed Facebook suicide earlier this afternoon when I participated in the process myself. What I had hoped would be a way for me to create a fan page and then re-establish a new personal account has instead turned into a bit of a technical, and social media-induced nightmare.
Understanding the Target Audience
Facebook told me that this is a tool meant for businesses, not individuals. The company doesn’t encoura ge users to convert their profiles to Pages because content doesn’t move over, only connections.
Just looking at the page for the new migration tool, Facebook makes this point clear, but the site isn’t explicit about what this actually means.
Here is what converting a page actually means, in terms of user content:
- Only your profile photo transfers, no other profile photos or intricate profile information carries over.
- Any uploaded photos, wall posts, comments and likes disappear.
- Facebook messages disappear.
- Any applications linked to a Facebook account lose that connection.
- The username you have on your profile may or may not transfer over. In my case, it didn’t, and now http://www.facebook.com/christina.warren serves up a big fat, not found page, rather than my profile. The kicker? The name has been “used” so I can’t claim it again.
- The resulting account is known as a Busines s Account and can only be...
