Facebook tests paid emails for users not on friend list

Facebook Inc is testing a tool that will let users pay to send an email message to another member, even if they aren’t connected as friends on the world’s largest social network.

Facebook said the test will start with a “small number of people” and will charge an unspecified fee to ensure a message gets sent to the main inbox — rather than a lower-priority queue — of another user, even a stranger. Facebook will test different fees, starting initially at about $1 per email, according to a person with knowledge of the matter, who asked not to be identified because pricing is private.

“Several commentators and researchers have noted that imposing a financial cost on the sender may be the most effective way to discourage unwanted messages and facilitate delivery of messages that are relevant and useful,” the Menlo Park, California-based company said on its website.

Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg is looking for new sources of revenue amid a stock drop of 28 per cent since Facebook’s initial public offering in May. The messaging feature takes a cue from LinkedIn Corp, the business-focused social media company that gives premium paying users added flexibility in sending messages to people outside their network.

FEE FACTS 

• The test will start with a "small number of people" and will charge an unspecified fee to ensure a message gets sent to the main inbox - rather than a lower-priority queue - of another user, even a stranger
• Different fees will be tested, starting initially at about $1 per email
• The messaging feature takes a cue from LinkedIn Corp, the business-focused social-media company that gives premium paying users added flexibility in sending messages to people outside their network
• The pay-for-email trial programme will only work between individuals in the US
• Facebook said imposing a financial cost on the sender might be the most effective way to discourage unwanted messages and facilitate delivery of messages that are relevant and useful

The pay-for-email trial programme will only work between individuals in the US, Facebook said.

The company also announced other changes to its messaging service, adding filters that let users control how they can be contacted by friends or those outside their network.

‘Timeline’ revamp
Facebook might also redesign its ‘Timeline’ feature, as the firm confirmed it was experimenting with new ways of laying out users’ pages.

“This is a new design Facebook is testing with a small percentage of people to make navigating timeline even easier,” a Facebook spokesperson told ABC News.

Tabs are back with this new look, doing away with front-and-centre thumbnails for ‘friends’ and ‘photos,’ a move that may further bury some marketing efforts for brands that rely on apps.

The result is a cleaner, bolder menu for navigation. In this design, your name is lifted into the cover photo as well.

Having text over the photo evokes Twitter’s header images, implemented over the last month, which use the art space in a similar informational capacity. The text is white with a barely visible shadow behind it, the report said.

In the new design, users looking for ‘about’ information on a profile page will not have to click to a new page with a new address.

They can stay on the profile page they are browsing. Scroll down past the ‘about’ information and a ‘friends’ list will pop up. Keep scrolling and ‘photos’ become available as well.

The ‘subscriber’ count at the top of the profile page now shows the precise number of followers; up to now, if someone had 180,023 subscribers, it would be shortened to ‘180K’.

The word ‘subscribers’ has also been replaced by 'followers', something Facebook already confirmed it was planning to change.

Browsing through Timeline currently, the user has to dart back and forth, left and right, to see posts chronologically.

In this design, Facebook returns to a single stream of posts on the left, with friend/photo information to the right. The right hand stream eventually ends, leaving the single stream on its own. This would make it much easier to see one’s chronological stream.