Facebook will not charge users, spokesman says

One of the biggest rumors that has been circulating about Facebook is that they wish to charge users between 1.99 to 14.99 for using the social networking website. Facebook now finally goes on the defense about this rumor.

Most people are guilty of joining mass groups on Facebook that usually have titles such as "Join To Keep Facebook Free" or "Join If You Don't Want to Pay for Facebook," and while the rumor has been going on for the past year and a half, there has not been any major changes to Facebook itself to suggest such a dramatic change. However, people are hard pressed and continue to spread the rumor. Finally, there are some answers from the social networking giant. In an article at CNN, spokesman for Facebook Larry Yu was cited saying: "We have absolutely no plans to charge for the basic service of using Facebook." To make this statement even more concrete, it is vital to know that placing up pay walls and forcing users to pay for the site would be completely contradictory to their mission--which, albeit has been questioned on the privacy front, is to bring together people from all corners of the globe and network with one another in a free environment. Plus, the advertising found on Facebook is already generating enough income as well as certain services that Facebook offers for a charge. For example, while networking will remain free, you must buy a virtual gift for a friend on their birthday or buy tokens to play the ever-so-addicting FarmVille or other such games. The CNN article also predicted that advertising alone should rake in at least 2 billion dollars this year for Facebook. That's not a number to sneeze at, and quite contrary for the need to even charge members. Online advertising is a booming market, with several different types of methods for websites to generate revenue and to continue to operate. Sponsoring on Facebook is perhaps the biggest medium of them all. As for how these rumors first started, it will probably remain unknown. However, the fanatic hysteria that ensued from such a rumor mostly fed off of peoples own experiences with how services work. Many companies that start online might allow people to use their service for free for a bit, but then once they gain popularity, will charge for the service in order to garner a bigger profit. Another reason behind the spark of the rumor is that people are skeptical of something when it is free and offers so much. But regardless, the rumors have finally been debunked by employees of Facebook itself. They know better then to start charging people, especially in the recent economy, as their viewership would shrink exponentially and that means less advertising and salaries for them in return. People may continue to use Facebook peacefully.