No, Facebook Is Not Going To Charge For Their Site

 

There have been numerous rumors over the past few years about Facebook charging for their site. None of them have been true so far and none of them will be true. Yes, Facebook could theoretically charge for specific features, but the $4.99 a month fee that some groups are claiming are flat out inaccurate. The largest group which grew to over 100,000 users was quickly removed by Facebook, however new versions of the group are beginning to sprout up.

Yesterday I received multiple inquiries from people, including journalists, about whether the rumors of Facebook charging a fee were true. No, the rumors are not. Did I call Facebook to find out whether or not the rumors were true? No. I just know that Facebook would be shooting themselves in the foot by charging for access. Want to keep investigating the story further? You’ll be wasting your time.

Facebook didn’t become the most popular site in the U.S. on Christmas by charging for their service, and they aren’t going to become the largest site in the world by charging for their service. Facebook will begin charging for access on the same day Google decides to charge users on a per search basis. Every year there are multiple groups claiming that Facebook will soon begin charging for their service in an attempt to get thousands if not millions of users to join quickly.

While Facebook has plenty of other monetization plans, including the rapid expansion of the Facebook Credits system, none of those plans include a fee-based access model.