The social media company said on Wednesday that it had dropped the like button from the redesigned public pages used by Facebook artists, the public and brands.

The company said in a blog post that Facebook pages will only show followers, and users will have dedicated news feed to join conversations, chat with colleagues and engage with fans.

"We are removing Likes and focusing on Followers to simplify the way people connect with their favorite Pages," Facebook said about the new redesign which began on January 6th.

Significant changes include redesigned layout, news feed, easier navigation, updated task-based management controls, functional intelligence and security features.

New security features ensure that spam and spy accounts are detected properly too.