Facebook drops 'likes' button from public pages, to focus only on followers

Facebook Inc has dropped the 'likes' button from its redesigned public pages used by artists, public figures and brands, the social media company said on Wednesday.

Facebook Pages will only show followers and have a dedicated News Feed where users can join conversations, interact with peers and engage with fans, the company said in a blog post.

"We are removing Likes and focusing on Followers to simplify the way people connect with their favorite Pages," Facebook said about the redesign. "Unlike Likes, Followers of a Page represent the people who can receive updates from Pages, which helps give public figures a stronger indication of their fan base," the post explained.

The idea is similar to how Instagram functions where people follow public profiles. "To make Page conversations more visible to a wider audience and surfaced more frequently in their followers’ News Feed, comments from public figures will be bumped to the top of the comments section. People will also be able to follow Pages directly from comments and recommendations posts,"the post further added.