If you haven't seen the little notification yet, Facebook is getting rid of the gray verification badges at the end of the month. This will only affect you if you own a business page and if you went through the process of getting that little gray check mark.
If you aren't aware of what they gray verification badge stood for, you are not alone. In fact, that is one of the main reasons why they are doing away with them in the first place. The gray badge caused quite a lot of confusion because people didn't understand the difference between the blue check mark and the gray one. Honestly I still don't but here is what I summed up from reading about it.
The main difference is any business page could go through an identification process to receive the gray checkmark, as opposed to the blue one where Facebook gives them to public figures, media companies or brands to show they are authentic. The blue tick verified Page goes through a more rigorous process where the gray is a more basic ID process and isn't at stringent so it is easy for people to start a duplicate company page and then apply for a tick and present themselves as the official business when they really aren't.
Why even have two separate versions in the first place? I don't understand. I guess they wanted brands and people with not as massive of followings to have the ability to get a check mark to show their legitimacy but in my opinion it wasn't necessary and clearly that is why they are taking them away.
If you have a business page that had a gray badge there are still ways to make sure you look authentic. You should already have this completed but you need to make sure your Page profile is complete, including up-to-date information, a profile picture that is on brand and correct contact information.
This is what the notification will look like on your Page.
That's not the only thing that is getting some changes. Facebook also announced that they are changing the way in which it calculates organic Page impressions. Some people were nervous of this because you could see a reduction in perceived Page and post reach although your numbers won't really be changing; just more accurate.
Facebook is re-configuring its reach calculations so they're more in line with how it displays ad reach. This will reduce duplicate metrics bases on the same person revisiting your Page and/or posts multiple times. This is why you could see lower numbers but it's just a more accurate reading.
Overall, these changes both seem useful and relevant but they will impact how your Facebook Page both looks and performs so it's worth having a little knowledge on it before it happens!
xx,
Kenzie