Yesterday Facebook announced on its blog that its more than 65 million users now have the ability to better define their political views by choosing the "Political Party" that they support.

In other words, whereas before folks like me had to choose either "Conservative" or "Libertarian" to identify my political views, I can now choose the political party I represent instead, e.g., Republican Party. Now, it's important to note that your choices are not limited to Facebook's pre-loaded Party options as I was still able to write in "Conservative" and "Libertarian" and avoid Facebook's suggestion to support the "Conservative Party - Norway" or the "Libertarian Party - United States."

Here's a quick before and after of my profile:

While my friends Michael Whitney and Nancy Scola argue that this is a bad move (and make some very good points that I hope the Facebook team notices), I disagree. And I do so both as a "Republican" who supports the "Republican Party" and as a small-businessman who uses Facebook to better target a message for my clients.

First, for me personally, I've always been an "establishment" guy so I'm proud to support the Republican Party. I've always wanted to label myself as a Republican who supports the Republican Party and now I'm able to do so. Finally.

Second, as someone who utilizes the Facebook advertising tools, this change will allow me to better target a message to those folks who raise their hands proactively as Republicans who support the Republican Party.

The bottom-line is that No change at Facebook will go unnoticed because the site impacts every facet of our lives, and the lively discussion on both sides of the aisle is a credit to that. The Facebook team should listen to the smart people raising good points but I believe that this is a step in the right direction.

Thoughts?