Would you blog on Facebook? Notes gets a revamp

Facebook has confirmed it is revitalising its long-forgotten Notes platform, perhaps in a bid to attract bloggers.

Most of us can’t even remember how to access Notes, let alone use them – that’s how long it’s been since we paid attention. (For the record, click the More tab beneath your cover photo, click Manage sections, then tick the box beside Notes to make them show up on your profile.)

There’s no word of an official deployment of the feature, but a Facebook spokesperson did tell the Verge: “We’re testing an update to Notes to make it easier for people to create and read longer-form stories on Facebook.” For now, it’s available to just a small test number of users.

So at the very least, this will mean that the more ‘vocal’ folk on our Timelines can express their ramblings in a separate section of the site. Here’s to hoping for no more 1,000-word updates on someone’s divorce proceedings or extensive self-congratulatory humblebrags.

The new Notes will have a wider page view, bold headline and large cover photo at the top. As others have already noted (no pun intended), Notes looks set to rival the simple layout of popular blogging platform Medium, which was launched by Twitter’s co-founders Evan Williams and Biz Stone in 2012:

So will it take off? With so many blogging platforms already out there – Tumblr, WordPress and of course Medium to name but a few – it’s unlikely that established bloggers will make the switch to Facebook.

However, it could definitely come in handy for those who want to write an extended post – bands, for instance, wishing to announce a list of upcoming tour dates. Long statuses have always been cumbersome to read on the Newsfeed, so maybe a separate section will take on a life of its own.

The news about Notes comes in the wake of other experiments for the world’s most popular social network, which has been concentrating on its Instant Articles, video tools and Live Streaming features of late.

Photo via Cambodia4kids.org at Flickr Creative Commons

Sadie Hale

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