Starting Today, Facebook users can tag pages in their photos. Previously, only friends were able to be tagged and linked to within photos. A certain page can now be tagged by anyone on Facebook, not simply those who have liked the page.
Currently, the only types of pages that can be tagged are Brands & Products or People pages, but Facebook says they are “looking to expand this functionality to more page categories over time.”
As usual, Facebook is reminding us that privacy features are still in place, and that just because you tag a photo of a Coke with the Coke brand page, it doesn’t mean your photo has to appear on that brand’s page- unless of course you want it to.
The privacy of the photo is always respected when a Page is tagged in a photo. If a photo post is published to “everyone,” then it can appear publicly on the Photos tab of the Page and the Page admins can see it. If it’s just published for someone’s friends, only their friends will be able to see that photo. Page Admins can always choose to disable tagged photos from appearing on the Photos tab by going into Edit Page > Posting Options > and unchecking “Users can add photos”.
Last fall, Facebook launched new features for photos, such as higher resolution images and that nifty black-bordered viewer for browsing. They also retooled the uploading functionality and allowed users to tag multiple photos at the same time.
This will obviously promote more interaction with brands on Facebook as well as celebrities’ fan pages. Just think how many times people upload a picture of someone holding a Starbucks coffee or upload a pic from a certain restaurant or sporting venue? If users have a picture with Kanye West and a bunch of their friends, for instance, they can tag him along with all their friends.
Since 2009, users have been able to tag pages in their status updates and wall posts. This just takes that to a whole new level.
What do you think? Will you use the new feature?