VERDICT: Pay for Facebook? No, we’re leaving!

We never thought this day would come, when we would have to pay as much as N6,000 ($36) for using the most popular social network on any planet, Facebook.

Just on Monday at Menlo Park in California, USA, chief executive officer of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, told newsmen about the plan to begin charging users for the use of the social network from November 1. The payment (some N500 per month or N6,000 per year), he explained, was for the network to cater to its rising running cost.

“After thinking long and hard about this decision, at the end of the day, we were forced to add this monthly fee,” Zuckerberg said.

“If we don’t do something about our rising costs now, Facebook could cease to exist in the near future.”

Facebook currently has about 1.317 billion users and if just 75 per cent of them start paying the $2.99 monthly fee, the yearly profit would be about $36bn. Massive, isn’t it?

Facebook spokesman Paul Horner blamed the new monthly fee on the tight economy.

“Economic times are tight; the ads on Facebook are not as profitable as we had planned,” he said.

“Our costs are going up as hundreds of thousands of individuals continue to join the site every day.”

Would Facebook users be ready to pay as much as N6,000 per year just to use the social network? TheCable brings you the pulse of the people on the matter:

My Facebook account will still be a normal site I visit frequently. Just that it might prompt me to use more of other social media sites such as Instagram and Twitter. I only use Facebook to chat and I think WhatsApp can cover for that.

Paul Alasiri

My account would still be alive; N500 is nothing if you want to continue to keep in touch with friends. Not everyone is on BBM or Whatsapp. This might not be monthly anyways.

Oluwabusuyi Adebiyi

My account would be dormant for sure; I hardly use it for any gainful purpose, so why pay for what is not so useful.

Felix Abiodun

My account would be as active as ever, because I make use of Facebook for what it meant for.

Oluwaseun Odutayo

Facebook may become a desert place where one rarely visits….

Adewumi Opeyemi

Once Facebook implements that, I will delete my account.

Adekanye Modupeoluwa

Well, if that would really work, then this Facebook account should be managed and operated such that it would be able to fetch me not less than $36 annually. For this to be achieved, my account should be an avenue or platform to sell out myself or my products in a way that would benefit the society and the self. In a nutshell, i think i would be compelled to make my account a bit active and beneficial.

Olowe Michael

The moment that happens, I’m leaving Facebook altogether.

Victor Aiyejuro

The first question is, why would we begin to pay $3 per month? Facebook is not the only social media in platform vogue; people would migrate to other social media and forget about Facebook. My Facebook account would be abandoned once that happen.

Owolabi Yetunde

Once Facebook does that, my account would be of less use.

Janet Michael

By then, N500 a month won’t be a problem, considering the endless possibilities it brings. But another social network might be launched by competitors to rival Facebook, which might be free, and that might leave Facebook in a limbo, Remember, 10 years ago, all we knew was Yahoo Messenger and hi5.

Aminu Smug Amir

My Facebook account will be active, because I won’t hesitate to pay for it. Moreover, the amount is okay.

Rukayat Raheem

I will gladly maximise the usage of other social networks: Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram for my social interactions. Perhaps my Facebook account could get redundant before I have the required fund to run one.

Osho Samuel

I can’t pay such amount considering the fact that I don’t always have the interest in going online every day. Sometimes I’m busy and may just not feel like. I also don’t chat with majority of my friends using Facebook chat. The information available on Facebook can be fetched somewhere else. In fact, it’s a plus for me to make use of that time for something more profitable. So, paying such amount doesn’t worth it.

Ayinde Moromoke

Of course, I would pay to keep my account; you are not expecting me to neglect my friends, my class Facebook group, my mentors, my business and my business Facebook pages. You can’t just expect me to abandon an online presence I’ve been building for the past five years. I don’t think I’ll have any choice than to pay and continue using my account. In fact, I’ll prefer paying 6,000 for the whole year so as to prevent any disruption in service.

Oredola Ibrahim

The cheery news is that the 10 year-old social network has created a way out for “poor” users.

According to Horner, those who cannot manage the cost have a “simple” way to make it known.

“In a new status update, copy and paste the words: ‘I AM POOR. FACEBOOK, PLEASE WAIVE MY MONTHLY FEE. Make sure you include the hashtag #FacebookMonthlyFee,’” he said.

While this will inform the Facebook billing department to waive any fees associated with the user’s account, using a free account would limit the Facebook access.

“Unfortunately for free users, access to all Facebook games will no longer be available,” he further explained.

“There’s also a free option which will allow you access to your Facebook account for up to one hour a week, exceeding that will cost $0.49/minute.

“I think you can agree that it is extremely important to find the right Facebook plan for you!”

Founded on February 4, 2004, by Mark Zuckerberg and his college roommates and fellow Harvard University students – Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Moskovitz and Chris Hughes, Facebook assumed a worth of $200bn in just 10 years, with presence in more than 70 languages.