- Users can pay $2 to create a 'highlighted post'
- Posts appear higher in friends' news feeds
- Latest in a series of efforts by social network giant to boost profitability
By Rob Waugh
|
Will you be my friend? Facebook is testing a ¿pay to be popular¿ option to make help users get noticed by their friends
Facebook is testing a ‘pay to be popular’ option to make help users get noticed by their friends.
The social networking giant has begun offering some users a $2 feature called ‘Highlight’ to ensure their posts are seen by more people.
It's the latest in a sequence of money-making efforts from the social-network giant in an effort to reassure investors before its flotation on the stock market.
Yesterday, Facebook unveiled an app store, where users can pay for apps for the first time.
Recent figures show only 12% of Facebook friends see an average status update.
However, Facebook’s new ‘Highlight’ feature will let users pay to have one of your posts appear to more friends.
The feature is already being tested with some users in New Zealand, with a free version also having been spotted to gauge users interest.
Facebook said: ‘We’re constantly testing new features across the site.
This particular test is si mply to gauge people’s interest in this method of sharing with their friends.’
Users who are in the test group and post a status update, see a ‘Highlight’ option next to the Like and comment buttons below it.
The screenshot captured by Techcrunch which shows how users can pay for their posts to be seen by more users
When clicked, they will be offered one of several price points Facebook is testing - including one charging $2 for each post.
It is believed highlighted posts may appear higher in the news feed, stay visible for longer, and appear to more friends and subscribers.
However, some experts believe the feature could simply annoy users.
‘On Facebook, what’s supposed to matter is how interesting your posts are, not how deep your wallet is,’ said Josh Constine of TechCrunch.
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just when i thought the pathetic western mind set could not sink any lower. What the hell is wrong with us? Facebook and twitter etc, have turned us all into weak minded fools..
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"And the Geek will inherit the earth!" Revenge is sweet eh nerds! How pathetic if people actually do that. I wouldn't care as I'm too old now to plus I know who my closest friends are.
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Big mistake. What will happen is that I will do what many others who feel annoyed at having to pay for something that has always been free. I will make sure that all my friends know my email address and close my facebook account, emigrate to Twitter and carry on. Facebook then will just eventually disappear and carry the legacy of becoming greedy.
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what was cool about Facebook was the nearly invisible ads and basi functions, now it's been blasted with ads and complicated functions and what will they be thinking soon charging users 1-5$ a month to use it?
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No long will the attention seekers be ignored.
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Pure greed, have they not made enough money? I won't pay.
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What's the saying if its not broken don't fix it !.............but then there are those 'greedies' out there who want to make money out of everything and everyone. If it gets to pay per post then I am off and am sure there will be a great many others too 'so fix it Guys and repent at leisure ........................oh yes and loose millions !
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The one good thing to come out of this is that it should give me a good idea of who to unfriend and which sites to unlike.
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You just know that people are going to be lining up to pay that $2. There are individuals who actually believe they really have 500 "friends". They don't even know 500 people! I have to say I am glad I grew up before this - I have lots of aquantances, but 5 really good friends, and I am so glad I know the difference.
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I don't have Facebook and I don't have twitter but I have lots of friends ...that will do me...
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