Hello,
I'm Mervi Eskelinen!
An artist, nerd and sorcerer, dedicated to make world softer and better for everyone, and to get you to make more art. Make art, change the world!
Is Facebook charging you for sending messages?
OMG! Panic! Mayday!
A big Finnish news outlet Kauppalehti decided to try and cause fire and mayhem by telling that Facebook is starting to charge it's users for sending messages. Reportedly this is true. To a point.
Actually Facebook is testing a system where they will charge people for messaging to those who aren't their friends. And even this isn't the whole truth.
Messages that might be spam and aren't coming from your friends do come through to your Facebook account. Accurately speaking they don't land in your Facebook inbox and you won't be notified of them. They go to your Other folder, which is a tad hidden there under your messages. It has been this way since 2011 or so.
Do me a favor: Go to Facebook, click the messages-icon on the top of the page. It's there on the side of the word Facebook, the squary speech bubbles. You can see two words there, Inbox and Other (or whatever they are in your respected language). Other is where all the non-friend's messages and possible spam lands. There might be some new messages there right now, you just have not been notified of them since they are not in your Inbox.
So, what does this have to do with the news? Well, the new system would allow strangers to send their messages straight to your Inbox. They just need to pay for it. If they won't pay, the messages will go to your Other folder as they have been going there for quite a while now.
Basically this trial doesn't change anything for you. For someone who wants to contact you, but isn't on your friends list this changes things: They can now get their message through to your Facebook Inbox without it landing into the hidden Other folder. For instance someone who's not your friend might want to send you a job offer and make sure you see it. More popular you are, more they must pay.
This is similar to the InMail service on LinkedIn. They allow paid subscribers to send messages outside their professional networks, but limit these messages for non-paid users.
Someone pointed me out that Facebook is patenting this sort of system for much wider use. That they are likely to start to charge for all the private messages. I doubt this. Most wouldn't pay for sending messages to their friends on Facebook, since we have all the free ways to do it (including sending regular email). It would be a stupid move from them.
About the panic and OMG and Mayday. Well, there's no point to go there right now. Keep calm, all is cool.
This is a reader supported blog without paywalls and advertisement. If you appreciate my work and want to help me rewild the internet, please consider becoming a free or paid patron today. I can't do this without the support of readers like you. So if you can to contribute financially, I would really appreciate your help.
