Facebook is starting to let Facebook Group admins charge USD4.99 (MYR1.24) to USD29.99 (MYR7.50) per month for access to exclusive content in certain groups. The social media platform said in a blog post today that it is testing selected handpicked groups mostly related to parenting, cooking and home cleaning.
The objective of charging for group access is several fold. Facebook acknowledges that group admins (some anyway) help build safe and supportive communities that make people come back to every day.
The “job” is strictly voluntary, as admins invest their time and energy maintaining their groups.
Some groups are highly active and engages tens of thousands of people across the world. One such group is called “Declutter My Home,” started by Sarah Mueller, helping people around the world to declutter in their spaces.
Using the new subscription group, Mueller will be able to get members to work on bite-sized projects, and have access to actionable checklists, tutorials, live videos and more.
Subscription groups have built-in tools to help admins track and collect payments, as well as offer exclusive members-only content.
This move is aligned with the new experience Facebook rolled out to support video creators earlier in the year. It’s part of its overall approach to help creators and leaders financially so that they can continue to engage with their fans and communities.
Facebook said the subscription groups pilot is testing across of range of interests. For members, they will be able to sign-up and manage their subscription through the Facebook app on iOS and Android.
The social media giant said as of now it will not take a cut of subscription fees, as these are billed through respective Android and iOS app stores.
All other groups on the platform remain free.
Source: Facebook
