Facebook to charge users to “promote” posts to their friends

Facebook is experimenting with a new revenue stream, paid personal posts, but the idea could backfire. “I don’t think the average user will pay to have a post promoted unless it was in some way related to business or advertising. When asking our fans if they would be willing to pay, the general response was a flat-out ‘no,'” said Lauren Formalarie of SayItSocial.

Facebook wants you to advertise … to your friends.

The world’s largest social network, which announced Thursday that it has crossed the billion-user mark, has struggled to make money from its enormous pool of users. The solution: Turning individual users into advertisers.

“I thought it was a joke at first, to be honest,” explained Cameron Yuill, founder of digital media technology company AdGent. “Now they’re going to charge me $7 to tell my friends something?”

Facebook announced Wednesday that Joe Sixpack will soon be able to ensure that you’re reading his messages, thanks to an expansion of the Promoted Posts program, which lets businesses pay anywhere from a few dollars to a few thousand to ensure that hundreds of thousands of Facebookers see your posts.

I toyed with the idea of “paying” to promote this post, then I realized Mark has enough money and doesn’t need any of mine to promote his new ideas.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2012/10/04/facebook-to-charge-users-to-promote-posts-to-friends