There is this post that I see floating around Facebook on and off quite often. It is that if you copy and paste this statement FB won’t charge you. I know that it seems odd that a service that you use daily is free BUT it is free for a reason.
Let me explain.
You are the product!
Facebook is desperate for YOU to stay on the platform because they NEED your attention. Your attention is your fee.
IF Facebook started charging even a small fee for the site, another company would swoop in and create a new platform that is FREE so quick and take away their audience.
Facebook has a very simple business model. They create a platform where anyone (that abides by their rules) can post for free and see other peoples posts for free.
They don’t do this out of the goodness of their hearts though. They do this because they can then charge business owners to run ads on the platform.
Facebook makes far more money selling ads than they ever could from a subscription model.
So where did this all come from?
Well, the rumor has been around for a long time but there has been a renewal of confusion because Meta (Facebook) does have a new feature that businesses and famous people and creators can pay for. This feature is the Verified Checkmark. This is optional and you don’t have to sign up for it but let’s say that you are someone famous like Dolly Parton and you want people to be confident that when Dolly posts, it is really her the best way is to be verified.
Getting verified is a bit of an ordeal and you really do have to pay for the service. In this instance, it makes a lot of sense and is worth it to protect your brand.
However, the average person will NEVER need to pay for Facebook. The day that Facebook started charging the average user is the day that they would lose all of their stock value.
Your attention is worth a lot of money.
While social media doesn’t cost us dollars to use, it does cost in other ways. Remember to social wisely and don’t forget to take breaks.