Yes, it is still possible to like Facebook pages in 2023. Facebook introduced the Like button in 2009 as a quick and easy way for users to show their support for brands, businesses, organizations, public figures, content creators, and other entities on Facebook. Over a decade later, the Like button remains a core feature of the platform.
What does liking a Facebook page do?
Liking a Facebook page connects you to that page and allows you to see updates from it in your News Feed. When you like a page, you become a fan of that page. Here are some key things that happen when you like a Facebook page:
- The page gets added to your interests in your Facebook profile
- Updates from that page may show up in your News Feed
- You’ll be able to interact with new posts from the page, like commenting and liking posts
- The page’s public postings may show up on your profile timeline
- The page gains a new follower (you!) and increases its overall like count
So in summary, liking a page helps you stay connected and engaged with that entity on Facebook. It allows you to show support for pages and causes you care about.
How to like a Facebook page
Liking a Facebook page is a simple process that only takes a couple of clicks:
- Go to the Facebook page you want to like. This could be a page for a business, brand, public figure, artist, or organization.
- Look for the Like button near the top of the page. On desktop it is on the left sidebar. On mobile, it is usually above the page’s cover photo.
- Click the Like button. It will turn blue to confirm you’ve liked the page.
- The page will now be liked and you’ll become a fan. You’ll start seeing updates from that page in your News Feed.
You can also like pages directly from Facebook search results. When viewing a page’s profile in search, you’ll see the Like button in the top right of the page’s cover photo.
Liking a page is completely free and easy to do for any public page on Facebook. Most pages want to gain as many likes as possible, so they make the Like button clearly visible.
Can you unlike a Facebook page?
Yes, you can unlike Facebook pages if you want to stop seeing updates from a page in your News Feed. Here is how to unlike a Facebook page:
- Go to the page you want to unlike.
- Click the Liked button near the top of the page. This will unlike the page.
- You’ll see a confirmation that you no longer like the page. You can like it again at any time if you change your mind.
Unliking a page removes it from your interests and stops its updates from automatically showing in your News Feed. However, you can still visit and view the page at any time. You just won’t get its posts in your feed unless you specifically go to the page or re-like it.
Limits on how many pages you can like
There is no limit on the number of Facebook pages you can like. You can like as many pages as you want to connect with brands, celebrities, organizations, and more on Facebook.
When Facebook first introduced likes in 2009, there was a limit of 5,000 likes per user. This limit was removed a few years later, in 2012. Since then, you’ve been able to like an unlimited number of pages on Facebook.
Some top Facebook pages have over 100 million likes. For example, Facebook’s own Facebook page has over 140 million likes currently. So while very few individual users will like pages in the millions, there are no restrictions on how many pages you can interact with via likes.
Page limits for converting to a business page
If you want to convert your individual Facebook profile into a business page, there are some page like limits to be aware of.
To convert to a business page, Facebook requires that your personal profile has at least 250 followers/friends. These connections could be page likes, followers, or Facebook friends. So you’d need at least 250 total before you can convert your profile.
Once you convert to a business page, there are also minimum like requirements to unlock certain features. For example, you need at least 30 likes to get access to Facebook Insights for analytics. And at least 100 likes are required before you can create a Short Name handle for your page.
But those are the only major limits related to page likes for businesses. There are no limits on how many pages your converted business page can like.
Does liking too many pages negatively impact your reach?
There is some debate about whether liking a very high number of pages could negatively impact the reach and visibility of your Facebook profile.
Some social media experts speculate that when you like hundreds or thousands of pages, Facebook’s algorithm can’t accurately determine your interests. This may possibly cause some of your own content to be shown to fewer friends.
However, Facebook has not officially stated that large numbers of page likes will hurt your personal News Feed reach. There is no like limit in Facebook’s policies.
If you do notice your own posts getting less engagement after you’ve liked many new pages, you could try unliking pages you’re less interested in. Focus on only keeping likes for your favorite brands and public figures you actively want to follow. But overall there is no definitive evidence that a high page like count significantly damages your personal Facebook account’s performance.
Does a page benefit from more likes?
In most cases, yes – pages want to accumulate as many likes as possible. More page likes equals a larger potential audience for that brand, business, or organization’s content.
Benefits of more Facebook page likes include:
- Increased visibility and reach for the page’s public posts
- Appearing more popular and established to visitors
- Unlocking features like Facebook Insights analytics
- Reaching a bigger pool of people for any ads run by the page
Pages may want to increase likes to boost awareness, drive website traffic, get more feedback on products/services, or simply grow their audience on Facebook. More likes won’t necessarily translate into engagement like clicks and comments, but a popular page with lots of likes can leverage that fanbase if they publish engaging content.
However, fake or bot likes don’t help pages much. Facebook works to detect and remove excessive inactive likes. So while a high fan count looks impressive, it’s more beneficial for a page to have a moderately sized audience that genuinely cares about the brand, business, or organization.
Do Facebook pages expire if inactive?
Facebook pages do not expire, even if left completely inactive for a long time. Once a page is created, it will continue to exist unless the admin specifically requests to delete the page.
However, very inactive pages may have their names/URLs become available for other pages to claim. And extremely inactive pages could get removed by Facebook.
Here are some key points on inactive Facebook pages:
- Pages with no posts or admins can still be liked/followed indefinitely
- If a page is inactive for a very long time, its custom username could become available for other pages to claim
- Completely inactive pages with zero engagement may eventually get removed by Facebook
- Pages that violate Facebook’s policies could get deleted for inactivity or other reasons
But in general, pages remain on Facebook even if their admins stop posting or maintaining them. Their like counts and followers will remain unless the page is specifically unpublished or deleted.
Can you tell who likes your Facebook page?
Page admins have access to some insights about who has liked their Facebook page, but not full profiles of every individual fan. Page owners can see:
- Total page like count
- Demographics info like age, gender, and location of fans
- Which posts are attracting likes
- General categories of fans segmented by interests and habits
However, page admins can’t view a complete list of every user who has liked the page, or see personal info about each individual fan. Pages only get aggregated demographic data to protect user privacy.
Fans can choose visibility options for their page likes if they don’t want them publicly viewable. So Facebook limits page admin access to high-level statistics rather than personal data on each person who has liked the page.
Do page owners get notified of new likes?
Page admins can get notifications when their Facebook page receives new likes. By default, notifications for new likes are enabled for page owners.
To manage like notifications:
- Go to your Facebook page
- Click Settings in the top navigation
- Go to the Notifications tab
- Under “Interactions on Your Page” toggle on/off for “Someone likes your Page”
Turning this on will send the page admin an alert each time a new user likes their page. It’s a useful option for staying on top of page growth and monitoring engagement.
Why do some pages require liking before commenting?
Some Facebook pages require that a user like the page before being able to comment on posts. Pages can enable this by toggling on the “Restrict Comments by Page Likes” option in their page settings.
Requiring likes for comments can benefit pages in a few ways:
- Increases overall page like count by making people like to comment
- Filters some negative comments from non-fans
- Reduces spam comments
- Rewards engaged followers who have liked the page already
However, it also risks missing out on feedback from potential new fans who want to comment before liking a page. There are pros and cons to requiring likes to comment that pages need to consider carefully.
Can you like pages without an account?
To like a Facebook page, you need to have a Facebook account. Anyone browsing Facebook can view pages and their public content without an account. But only signed-in users can interact through likes, comments, and shares.
If you try to like a page while logged out of Facebook, it will prompt you to log in or sign up for an account. This requirement exists to reduce spam likes and grow pages’ audiences authentically.
Some reasons you need an account to like pages:
- Liking connects a page to your profile and News Feed
- Prevents fake page likes from bots
- Pages want real engaged humans fans, not inactive spam accounts
Overall, requiring an account improves the integrity and accuracy of page metrics. While it prohibits strictly anonymous likes, it results in page owners getting real followers who are interested in their content.
Conclusion
Liking Facebook pages remains an important way to interact with brands, businesses, organizations, influencers, artists, and more. Fans can show their support while pages grow their audience and increase engagement. With no limits on total pages liked, users are free to connect with as many of their interests as they want via page likes. While inactive pages may remain dormant, living pages benefit from attracting more likes over time. As long as you have a Facebook account, you can keep liking pages to your heart’s content.