People on Facebook are talking about this.
People on Facebook are talking about this - the new "About This" application to help fan pages monitor site activity. REUTERS/Thierry Roge

Facebook has introduced yet another upgraded page insight application called People Talking About This or simply About This.

About This is a new metric for fan pages designed to show conversations happening about a brand or page owner across the web, according to SearchEngineLand.com.

AllFacebook.com says that this new metric will tally the following: liking a page; posting to a page's wall; liking, commenting, or sharing a page's status update, photo, video, etc.; answering a question posted by a page; RSVPing to an event hosted by a page; mentioning the page; tagging a page in a photo; liking or sharing a check-in deal; and checking in at a place.

The new insights tab will supposedly only be available to the administrators of the various Facebook fan pages. However, below the Like button, there will be a ticker displaying the About This tally which will give the general Facebook community an idea of how popular the page is compared to others.

About This is a useful analytics tool for administrators to determine how their pages are stacking up against others, what the user engagement is like, and which areas may need further improvement.

The official People Are Talking About This Facebook page describes the effectiveness of the new insight application. Its strength is its ability to exemplify how communication between friends can prove to be the most influential brand marketing tool. Facebook has a better chance to demonstrate to brands [with the About This app] how to talk to more people... the key to a brand message, is to help more people, it writes.

This new application appears to be similar to the Trending section of Twitter, which displays popular hash tag topics of the day.

The About This application is just one more way Facebook is moving away from an emphasis on the private individual and moving more towards benefiting larger entities such as public figures, small businesses, and corporations.

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