Well, Facebook Inc. is apparently on its way to making that possible. For a price, of course.
Facebook Inc. confirmed recently that it is expanding its “Promoted Posts” test that initially launched to select users in New Zealand three months ago. The concept would give users an opportunity to promote their important posts or photos by paying a fee in order that the post is seen prominently on all of your friends’ News Feeds – and even friends of friends in some cases.
Facebook Inc. released a statement confirming the expansion. “We are expanding a test that started last May that enables people to pay to promote a status update so that more friends may see it in their news feed. We’re constantly testing new features across the site. This particular test is simply to gauge people’s interest in this method of sharing with their friends.”
When this test started, it was called “Highlight” and featured a charge of $2 payable through PayPal or a credit card. In the interim, Facebook introduced “Promoted Posts for Pages” which allowed brands to promote their videos, posts, offers, etc., to their followers – the more the brands paid, the higher percentage of their followers saw the post. Now this seems to take the “Pages” aspect to individual users.
If you had something really, really important to say, would you be willing to pay to ensure that all of your Facebook friends saw your post? How successful this test would be might be something to watch for investors in Facebook Inc. stock – like hedge-fund manager Chase Coleman of Tiger Global Management LLC – as the company looks to find ways to turn its free site into a revenue-generator.
