The Facebook IPO is just out & they have had a fairly good opening. And it has even trumped Google to become the second most valuable company on the Wall Street. But the news that just went viral was about the small charge Facebook is going to levy to 'highlight' post. They seem to have done a small test, but the first thought that really came up to my mind was, "Is Facebook greedy??"
We have observed now that Facebook is one of the most popular social platform with nearly 1 billion users and it earns revenues in billions from the numerous ads. With the recent design update, it gave users an option to highlight certain post, so that it does not get lost in other conversations. In one of the statement that Facebook has made, its seems that only 12% of your followers actually see your status update. But with an option to pay $1.80 fee per highlight, the update can remain at the top of your followers feed for a longer time. But was the move really necessary at a time they were going into IPO or was it just to have Facebook appear more lucrative in the run-up to IPO.
Since they have a fair earning already with the tons of ads on the platform or to say 90% of its revenue is from advertising and with enterprises trying to 'highlight' updates to ensure they stay on top of users feed, seems charging them is plain greedy. Not to say, the moves also has not gone down very well with the users.
Though they have experimented already in New Zealand, hope sense will prevail & it may not roll out in other countries. Else, I am afraid, it could benefit Google+ with user moving to its "still-free" offerings.
Your turn:
Do let me know if you think its a wise decision or should they wait for the IPO dust to settle down and then release updates or are they really greedy?? And if they do put charge to highlight an update, how will it effect your content strategies?? Are you ready to pay?? Share your views using comments below.
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