Facebook charging $100 to message Mark Zuckerberg

[Sefket]

SOURCE

Chris Taylor 1 hour ago

We knew Facebook was eager for new revenue streams. We just didn't know they were this eager.

If you try to send founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg a message on Facebook, Mashable discovered Thursday, the social network will offer to keep the message out of his "Other" Inbox — for a cool $100.

And here's the rub: in our tests from multiple accounts, it appears you only get this message if you're not one of Zuck's 16 million followers. In other words, Facebook is charging you $100 for being ignorant of the fact that you can follow its founder and send a message for free.

Keen Facebook observers will recognize this as a variant on the $1 pay-to-message plan that the social network has been experimenting with for months. The company indicated at the time that it would be experimenting with other prices, so it's possible we're starting to see the fruits of that.

There were sporadic reports in December of Facebook charging various people $100 for the service, but this is the first time we've seen it — and certainly the first time we've seen it applied to the founder.

The "Other" inbox is Facebook's dumping ground for all messages it guesses you won't want to read urgently. It's been controversial for some time, as most users are entirely unaware of its existence — and many discover messages they really wish they'd read at the time, such as job offers.

The $1 pay-to-message plan was first announced in December, and was described by the company as a test. It allows anyone to message anyone else's inbox directly for that one-time fee, whether they are friends or not. It was derided by some users as Facebook spam.

We've reached out to Facebook for a response on this story, and will let you know what we hear back. In the meantime, let us know in the comments what Facebook is charging you to message people you don't know.

[Dizzy]

omg Love you sefket and good topic very formative.

how's life?

[Motif]

wow that's pretty messed up.

[I Skype Moms]

FREE COOKIEZ!!!

[Silk]

who's he?

[R 4 P 1 D Z]

woah lol check out mr popular

[Kane]

That's crazy

[Fred]

but why would you want to message him in the first place?

[Mash]

but why would you want to message him in the first place?

[Overdosed]

The money has to come somewhere :D

[Ready Ok FOE]

but why would you want to message him in the first place?