-
Facebook logo. - Source: Breakfast
Facebook is the most popular social networking site in the world with over a billion users signed up since it launched in February 2004.
Since then it has had numerous changes.
We surely complained about most of those changes, but got used to them after a few weeks.
However the latest change I'm not sure I can get used to so easily.
Facebook has now started charging $0.66 NZD to send messages to non-friends' inboxes.
I did hear rumours at the start of the year that they're "trialling" this, however never thought they would follow it through.
What happened to Facebook's motto "free and always will be?"
I think it's time to find a new slogan.
The main concern is that the new change could jeopardise the privacy of users if they resort to adding people as "friends" just to send them a couple of messages.
Sure, Facebook can argue that you can still send free messages to non-friends' "other" inbox but who checks that and moreover who actually knows what the "other" inbox is!
The social networking site makes a bulk of its profits through advertising, this was something that was frustrating at the start but I quickly got used to it.
Then they introduced the option of paying to "promote" updates which was a huge hassle for small businesses owners who often only operate through Facebook and make marginal profits; it meant their followers couldn't always see their posts unless they paid to promote their status.
And now charging to send a message to non-friends' inbox.
Facebook have come up with numerous PR spins to make it sound like it's a service to their users; the two popular ones: "It is to filter spam" or "to ensure that the users actually receive the mail."
In the five years I've been using Facebook I've never experienced either of those problems, the new change has no other purpose but to increase profits.
After all, Facebook is just a business.
Alas as much as I disagree with the change, I can't say I'm deleting my profile anytime soon.
So I guess Facebook wins, again.
Ranjani Ponnuchetty is a student at New Zealand Broadcasting School in Christchurch who is currently on an internship with onenews.co.nz in Auckland