We've already established that very few fans actually see the updates posted on a Facebook page. It's not good news if you own a Facebook page. And it's really not good news if you follow pages on Facebook and don't want to miss anything!
So as a Facebook fan, is there a way to fix this? Yes. It requires a few steps to set up, but yes. And then it's super handy.
How to see all the updates from the Facebook Pages (and Friends) you love
Currently, the best way to accomplish this is to use Interest Lists on Facebook.
Update 11/5/12: There is another option that Facebook is rolling out which is the "Get Notifications" option you can/will see when you go directly to a Page and click on the gear icon. Because FB is just now rolling it out, it's possible you don't have this option yet (as of today, I don't) but I'll keep you posted as soon as I know more. (Check out Inside Facebook's post about it for more info.)
Update 11/14/12: It's rolled out. I wrote about it in this post: Facebook "Get Notifications" and "Pages Feed": More Ways to See the Page Updates You Want.
Interest Lists basically let you create a personalized feed in which you will see all the updates from exactly the people and Pages you want.
After you set up an Interest List (or lists), then when you login to Facebook, click on the list(s) you want to view from your Home page, you can be sure to see all the updates from the Pages and people on that Interest List as they are posted.
How to set up an Interest List
Login to Facebook and go to your Home page.
Once you do, scroll down until you see "Interests" in the left column. If you don't see "Interests" in the left column, click on "More" at the end of the left column and "Interests" should appear. Click on "Add Interests…" to create a new Interest List (you'll see here I already have created an Interest List called "Faves…").
In the next window, click the "Create List" button.
First you'll get some suggestions of pages that Facebook thinks you might want to add to your new list (see below). To include any of them on your new list, simply click on them. Once you do so, you'll see a check mark appear in the bottom right corner of the profile pic. (If you make a mistake and add something you didn't mean to, just click it again to deselect it.)
Tip: I highly recommend you choose your own Page (if you have one) so you can keep tabs and make sure you are indeed seeing all posts on this list. (It's just good to subscribe to all your stuff so you know what your readers/followers/fans are seeing.)
Now, I assume these are not the only pages you want to add to your new list. (Please note, Facebook can be buggy here, so hang with me. A note about the workaround at the end of this explanation, but ideally this is how it should work…)
Ideally, once you have selected the suggestions Facebook presented (above), you should be able to add more to this list by navigating through the options in this window. For example, perhaps you know of a Page you want to add but it didn't come up in your suggestions. You can search for it by typing it in the search bar up top. Once you see it, click on it to select it.
Go ahead and type in more page names you know off the top of your head. (The others should remain checked even if you navigate away from them.)
And then you might want to select some of your Friends by clicking on the "Friends" link in the left column. Yes, you can have a mix of Friends and Pages on one Interest List. Cool, huh?
Once you click there, your Friends should pop up on the screen. Add any of them to your list by clicking on their profile pic.
And maybe you want to choose some of your Subscriptions or browse some of the categories Facebook suggests (again see left column in image above).
So go ahead and select all the Pages, Subscriptions and/or Friends you want to add to this list. Then once you've selected everyone you want to include on this list, click the Next button in the bottom right corner of the window.
On the right side in the next window you should see all the people and pages you just selected.
Workaround: Now this is where Facebook can get buggy. If you realize not all your selections are on the list, you might have to add People and Pages in batches, checking after each to make sure they are showing up as shown above. If this happens to you, simply click the "Previous" button at the bottom right of the screen.
Once you go back, work through the above steps again, this time clicking "Next" after each group (suggestions, search entries, Friends, etc.) to make sure they were indeed added. I know it's a pain, but it's the only workaround I've found when Facebook is temperamental.
OK, workaround is done. Back to our regularly scheduled program…
Once you've got everyone on your new list that you want, enter a name for your list. Then choose who you want to be able to see the list (Public, Friends, Only Me) and then click the "Done" button in the bottom right.
Once you are done, you will be taken back to your Home page. Again, look in the left column under "Interests" to see the link to your new list. Or, access all your lists here.
How to make your Interest List easily accessible
Once you've created your Interest List, you want easy access to it right? The long way to get to it is to scroll down on your Home page (of your Personal Profile) and click on it under "Interests."
The faster way is to add your Interest List to your Favorites so you can get to it quick as a wink. As a Favorite, it will show up in the top left corner of your Home page.
To add a list to your Favorites, from your personal profile's Home page, scroll down until you see "Interests" in the left column. (Again, if you don't see "Interests", click the "More" link at the end of the left column and it should appear.)
Hover over the list you want to add to your Favorites until you see the edit icon (pencil) appear. Click on that pencil. Then click on "Add to Favorites." Doing this will bump up your Interest List link to the top of your Home page (see above) so when you login, you can go directly to your list.
Bonus: If you want to be super on top of things, hover over your list name again (under Favorite) until you see the pencil icon once more. Click the pencil icon and then click "Rearrange." You'll see three lines appear to the right of the items on your Favorites list. You can drag and drop your Interest List where you want under Favorites, like, just below your News Feed (which has to stay put).
I don't know how you could make it any easier to get to.
How to create a list and add Pages or Friends on the fly or individually
So now let's say you have your list created, but as you are browsing your News Feed or as you are bopping around the internet, you come across a Facebook Page you want to add to your list, or you remember you want to add that new Friend. Simple. (If you have trouble with this, you may have to switch your "Using Facebook as…" options.)
How to add a Page to an Interest List on the fly
If you already Like a Page and want to add it to a list on the fly (like when you're browsing your News Feed), simply hover over the Page name, then hover over "Liked" and then click "Add to Interest Lists…" when the menu pops up. Just choose the appropriate list.
Or, another alternative is to go directly to the page itself and click on the gear icon until you see the option to "Add to Interest Lists…"
Not only can you add the Page to an existing Interest List, you also have the option to create a brand new Interest List right from here. Just select "New List…"
How to add a Friend to an Interest List on the fly
If it's a Friend you want to add to your Interest List, they must allow Subscribers. To add a Friend to a list, I've found it works best to go directly to their main Profile page and then complete the steps required for adding a Page (click the gear icon and then "Add to Interest Lists…") like so:
A few more tidbits
- If you own a Facebook Page, consider sharing this post with your readers so they understand how Interest Lists work. There is so much confusion about this issue and so many are probably missing your posts!
- If you found this post via another blogger, consider adding their Facebook Page to one of your Interest Lists so you don't miss their posts.
- You can subscribe to my Faves list if you'd like. It's a handful of pages on a variety of subjects.
- You do not have to Like a page or Subscribe to a person in order to include them on an Interest List. Kinda makes Facebook Page Likes sort of not an accurate representation of how many people may be actually following your posts, right? Interesting…
- You can go directly to all your Interest Lists here.
- To delete an Interest List, hover over the list name and click on the pencil icon on your Personal Profile home page (left column). Choose "Delete List" or…
- Manage your lists by clicking on the link to one of them here, then in the right corner you will see a Manage List menu in the top right corner.
Oh, P.S.
If you're new here to this site, thanks for stopping by. My name is Amy and I talk about two things–my online life (Blogging with Amy) which includes things like my step by step guide to starting your own blog (it's easier than you think), and then there's my real life (The Girl Behind the Geek) which includes things like my battle with depression and my most embarrassing moment ever (it's a doozy). I'd love for you to hang out!
Great blog article, I was wondering how you can overcome missing updates from certain people…
Very helpful post. I will def be sharing this on my personal and blog fan page! Thanks, as always, for the great tips!
Thank you, Mary!
Amy! Once again you knock my socks off. I am in the stage of enhancing my Facebook page and there you are, posting content about Facebook update. Yey! Perfect timing. Thank you for all your blog content, you help me tremendously.
Glad it came at a good time, Liza. I totally planned that.
You are fantastic! As a trained technical writer, and current teacher who enjoys helping other teachers, I really appreciate the clarity of your posts! Big fan!!!
Thanks so much. That means a lot.
Thanks so much Amy! I stumbled across your site a month or so ago an am so happy I did! I just shared a link to your site through Pinterest and my Business Facebook page. I appreciate all of your helpful tips and will spread the word. ~ Julie (EAB Designs)
Thanks, Julie!
So glad you wrote this post! Curious: do you think Facebook is phasing out the old style lists (https://www.facebook.com/bookmarks/lists)? They were certainly easier to add friends to, and are what I've used so far for my private "people/pages I follow" list.
I gotta say, Gretchen, I have no idea what Facebook is doing.
The way I approach FB now is to assume everything can (and probably will) change shortly. LOL.
Thanks for that super long post. I signed at the end for you. We all appreciate your hard work and the step by step.
I even did it for my blog Facebook page.
This is great Amy and I will definitely be sharing it with my friends and followers. Just one question. I subscribed to a list that a few bloggers created and I noticed the posts are in kind of random order but I usually sort my newsfeed to "recent" so I can see them in chronological order. Is there a way to make interest lists sort posts in order? Thanks!
Hmmm…not that I know of.
Actually Amy, now that I've played with interest lists in my personal FB account more, I've discovered that the posts are in fact in chronological when I click on the interest list. {The random posts were when I tried to subscribe to a list from my blog's FB page. When I did that, my blog's newsfeed has a group of posts from the interest list together but in random order – weird – must have something to do with the fact that you aren't supposed to be able to subscribe to an interest list from a blog's page.}
I'm with the others commenting about how frustrating it is to not be able to create interest lists from blog FB pages. I prefer to comment from that account too
Awesome!! My pageviews dropped almost 40% since Facebook instituted their new algorithms : ( I pinned and shared to facebook.
Thanks so much!
Super helpful!
Have you done a post on the idea of creating a Facebook group as an alternative to a page?
I'm seeing some bloggers talk about that as a way to get more visibility for their posts, but I wasn't sure about the downsides….I'm pretty sure you get a lot more updates when you're part of a group, right? I wouldn't want to annoy people!
Amy, thank you for your step-by-step instructions, especially for those of us who are technologically=-challenged, hehe. I have a question: this setting (interests) that you just taught us, will it send emails to me so I alwasy know what is going on, even if I don't log to facebook?
I used to received them automatically but somehow now I dont anymore, it has been a few months already. this facebook changes almost everyweek so I really have no clue…
thanks for your help, I just discovered you thru mrs. january.
No, an Interest List won't, but read the post again–I just updated it with a little bit about a new feature rolling out that will send you notifications.
That was really easy! Thank you, really makes keeping up with posts so much easier!
You're welcome!
Thank you so much for such a thorough explanation. I just went in this evening to do this. I love being about to click on my various interest lists to see the posts that I am looking to see at a particular moment. Sharing this tutorial on my wall for sure.
Thanks so much Ginny!
Thanks Amy. This makes sense and no sense all at the same time. So basically, if I like a page I won't be guaranteed to see it in my feed. ( I pretty much have caught on to that because I only see about 10 of the same blogs I have liked on FB and they are the same everyday) Also I can tell that only about 200 of my 800 followers see what I post. So here are my issues with the interest list, I have to now go to my feed, my pages feed and my interest list to make sure I can keep up with all that I want to follow. Secondly, it looks like the interest lists have to be made under your primary account and not your page so I cannot leave comments under my blog facebook page but under my personal page. It's just all very irritating. I know this isn't your problem. I just don't understand why we can't just have all the blogs we follow show up in our stream. Thanks for letting me vent. But do you know how to comment on your interest list under you page and not your personal account?
I know, it's frustrating to me too. I keep reminding myself that Facebook is free, so they can do what they wanna do.
Yes, using Facebook as your Personal Profile as opposed to your Page is definitely another frustration. If I find a workaround, I'll let you know (or if any of you all, know of a workaround, holla!).
Hi Amy,
I've noticed that I can't create an Interest List from my own Page-CozyCondoLiving. I have to do it from my Home Page-Lisa Allen. I have purposely kept the two separate since my Home Page is for family/friends and my CCL page is for followers. I like to make comments on pages I am following as CozyCondoLiving so that bloggers know who I am. I don't want to comment as Lisa Allen. So, if I make an Interest List from my Home Page I would ONLY be able to use it to view and not to comment or "Like". That is a bummer! Have you noticed this yourself? Do you have any suggestions for what I could do?
That's my problem too.
Hi Lisa, see the comment I just posted to Lesley.
None of these things work for me with all posts. I do not see posts from any of my friends and/or pages if they post via a service like dlvr.it, HootSuite, NetworkedBlogs, etc. I see all the posts they post directly, but if they use a service it doesn't show up in my feed, my interest list, or any other list (though I can see it happening in the ticker if I'm watching). Do you happen to know of a workaround for this issue? I have repeatedly petitioned help from Facebook, but of course I have never been given any. Thanks!
No, unfortunately, I don't know a workaround. We are largely subject to Facebook's algorithms unfortunately. I'll be interested to see how the newest function to get notifications works once it's rolled out though.
Interest lists are all well and good but My colleague has just created an interest list which we hoped might better serve us as a channel, a division of our overall business theme. In this case Buz Aldrin created Airborne Activities. It's functioning perfectly Ok on his account but we want our followers to be able to subscribe to it (I thought this was the whole point), yet I went to subscribe to it only to find it does not appear for me to Subscribe to, when I type Airborne Activities in the box "Search for lists…"
AdventurebodsInterestList another that he created for his own consumption is found without issue (he wasn’t aware when he created this that they could be private or public etc)
So if these lists are restricted from some users – what’s the point.
Andy Seabrook
Hi Andy, why not just direct link to the list and put in a post or post it on Facebook?
Well of course – yes this is seemingly the only option – and as I used the phrase
"we want our followers to be able to subscribe to it" I have misled
What I should have said was that we want people to become followers by virtue of their finding the list and Subscribing, but how will they find it unless they have already found our Page.
A list which we can freely add out page too.
Why is our list not appearing in the Subscribe list or results from a search?
Oh I see. My thought is that perhaps your privacy settings are not set to Public. Here's the help page for Interest Lists. Hope that helps!
That would be far to easy Amy, all are set on Public. The reason I am asking is because the help list is not helping and but thanks anyway. Do you know of any good Facebook Forums where I might find an enlightened soul?
Hmmm…not off the top of my head. So sorry I'm not much help here!
Hi Amy,
Thanks for the well documented instructions on using FB (FaceBook) "Interest Lists" (IList). Found this blog after my own in-depth exploration of the functionality and options of IList, while looking for hints on adding and re-organising my own "Likes" from the old "Lists" I was using. People where appearing in the "+Add to this list" field below the "Manage your list" tab and the "Featured on this List" info, but not my "Likes" and I was getting frustrated. Later I realised that this was simply due to a slow INet connection so in summery I would suggest that using the "+Add to this list" is the easiest way to migrate your existing stuff on your FB page to the very powerful IList feature on FB. One can create IList in such a way that data overload is brought to a manageable level.
By the way if you use the "Like" button on a page or the “gear icon" on a Friend you can un-click the "Show in News Feed", which is ticked by default to reduce the traffic in your "News Feed" and only select the IList you want the data to appear in with the knowledge that it will be their when you check the IList.
Once you put the IList in your “Favorites” an number to the right of the IList Name will show you how many new post have been added to the list. This appears to not be the case if you keep the IList in its original location under Interests.
Meagan take note that FB Groups can not be added to ILists at this stage, when considering the use of a group instead of a page. Two great features of the group are:
1. You can send private messages to individuals or multiple group members. Same can be done with live chats, being like a conferencing feature that is like live e-Mail (live for those that are online and e-Mail for those that are not). All participants will see all posts irrespective of the time they look at it and will see the latest contribution.
Group members get notified by a red number in their FB-Messages.
2. There is a “Dropbox” type feature called “Files” (a tab), which must be used with caution as the security of this feature is still being debated and is no where near the Dropbox security but is still very useful.
OK I'm totally a dork because I got sort of squee-worthy excited that you used me as one of your examples. Because that means to follow my page. And I'm in one of your posts. And the combo made me all kinds of happy. #FunFun
Also makes me want to ask if you've ever done a post on changing a Facebook fan page name? I was able to change the url from the gypsy mama to lhttp://www.facebook.com/lisajobaker – now if only I could figure out how to change the name that shows up in my FB feed to Lisa-Jo. Got any wisdom on that front?
LJ
Unfortuntately, it's not possible if you have more than 200 fans (per Facebook's terms). If there's a workaround, I don't know about it (but would love to!).
That's one of the reasons I started from scratch when I wanted to switch my page name from Blogging with Amy to Amy Lynn Andrews. 
Oh and yes, of course I follow you. What? One of my favorite online people, that's you Lisa-Jo Baker.
Thanks for this great post. Do you know if there is a way to do the same thing with a page that was set up as a community, business, cause, news organization, etc.? The option to manage notifications and interests isn't there for the political community page I set up.
Is there a way a Facebook Page not a personal account can make an interest list?