Basically, there are two types of pages now: A Community Page and an Official Page.
Community page: page for a topic (ex: cooking)
Official page: page for a brand, business, band, etc. (what all pages were before) (ex: Coca-Cola)
Differences between community pages and official pages are simple: if you "like" a community page, the content of the page will not show up in your news feed, but it is the opposite with an official page.
Now to answer the question that all of you are asking... "Why did it change from "become a fan" to "like?" Facebook's reasoning is that becoming a fan was too much of a commitment, and to simply like a page is more "light-weight." I personally don't know who thought of that bizarre ideology... but I guess we'll have to live with it anyway.
Some might also ask the question, "How are community pages suggested to me?" Based on the information you put in your "likes and interests" section of the "info" part of your profile, community pages are suggested to you.
So what does it mean for those of you that maintain your business's facebook page? Heidi of HiHo pointed out that you are no longer able to click on the number of fans you have and look at the list of fans. (Well I guess we can call them likers now). No longer can you view your entire list of "likers." This isn't a problem for many, but sometimes page-maintainers like to see who their 500th "liker" was...which is the case for Heidi (congrats Mom!).
I guess the only other thing I need to mention is an alteration you should make is on your other online presences...like your website. Before, if you had a button like this one that said "become a fan"
Hope this clears up confusion, any more questions? Comment!
Love,
