Understanding The New Facebook Cover Photo

As March comes to an end, many are going through changes.  Depending on your outlook on life, change can be good or bad.  It’s a scary feeling!

A change that is also promenade is the conversion to the Facebook timeline.  To many people, Facebook is a huge part of our social lives and when it changes, uproar occurs.  Facebook is implementing the timeline to everyone’s (personal and business) pages.  The new timeline allows individuals to go back to the beginning of their Facebook and read comments and maybe even view those embarrassing photos.  One of the major features is the cover photo, which serves as a personal billboard.  As I transition from school to the professional world, I will make sure to utilize this space to set myself out from the crowd.

You know the old saying, “don’t judge a book by its cover?”  With the new Facebook cover photo, that is exactly what people will be doing.  The photo placed on the Facebook pages defines people more than they might realize.  With the current privacy settings, the cover photo can’t be hidden from people who search for others.  It is as public as a profile picture. 

When it comes to applying for jobs, future employers will be searching for social media profiles.  Make sure to include photos that show who you are in your cover photo.  One way to do this is to be creative with the space if you want to show employers your computer design skills.  Combine different photos that make you, well, you. 

As a future social media leader in public relations, I will explain the rules that go with cover photos.  If designing a cover photo for an organization you are working for, make sure that there is no price or purchase information such as “50% off an item.”  Contact information such as email, mailing address, web site or any other information that can be found in your pages “about” section can’t be used ether.  Asking to “like” or “share” the page or telling people to “Tell your friends” is prohibited as well.

The most important things to remember about the cover photo are to make it unique and expressive.