BREAKING - Due to the uproar caused by announcing its shutdown on March 15, Facebook has a new plan – charging users!
On January 9th, WWN’s J.B. Smitts broke the story that Facebook was shutting down on March 15th.
Pressure from angry users has been too much and Facebook is looking
at an alternative, something that will persuade Mark Zuckerberg to keep
the site alive: the social media platform is going to start charging
users!
Facebook is planning a subscription-based service with monthly fees
starting at $0.99 for a basic "friendship” which allows for the posting
of text and just one profile picture. This fee will increase, depending
on the number of friends you have, the messages posted and sent, and
the pictures/videos/ games put on a user’s page. The monthly fee will
be capped at $50.00 per month at the high-end.
Bottom line: the more you use Facebook, the more you will pay.
All existing content has been "grandfathered” and will not be
disrupted – though Facebook has decided to share this data with
government agencies, including the FBI and the CIA.
Goldman Sachs, which had been planning to raise $1.5 billion in
financing before they learned that Mark Zuckerberg wanted to shutter the
site, is thrilled at the prospect of Facebook converting to a pay
service.
"The addition of this substantial revenue windfall makes Facebook all
that more attractive as an investment,” said Tom Weitz, Senior Vice
President of Goldman Sachs. "This will make it the largest corporation
on the planet, in the history of the planet.”
Industry watchers estimate that the new fee-based program will
generate well in excess of $20 billion in new revenue for the company –
based on the most conservative assumptions of usage and the proposed
tiered fee structure.
These estimates, of course, account for the fact that millions of
users may quit Facebook in response to the imposition of fees. "I’m not
going to pay for Facebook! It’s like paying for air. It’s not right,”
said longtime Facebook junkie, Jessica Samsille. "Screw them, I’m
going back to MySpace,” said Bo Chan.
No matter. Facebook executives are excited at the prospect of
charging users. "We’re going to make money hand-over-fist,” said
Facebook CEO Sheryl Sandberg. "I think converting to a pay service is
something that will make Mark want to keep the site going. And I’ll
finally get to buy that island I want in the Mediterranean.”
Mark Zuckerberg’s identity was hacked on Facebook last night, which is another reason he wants to make a big change at the company.
March 15th is Facebook Day. The site will either shut down, or start charging users for its service.
Beware the ides of March…
[Reporting by Floyd Collins on WWN's Financial News desk]
