Thursday, December 20, 2012

Small Experiment

Just heard Facebook will start a new service and charge $1.  What is that service?  This $1 will guarantee that messages you send to people who are not connected will receive your messages in their inbox and not in the “other” folder.  This is $1 per message.  Facebook says this is “only a small experiment”.
 
First of all, why should I want to pay $1 and send a message to an unknown stranger?  Or, why should I want to read a message send to me by an unknown stranger?  I think this is a stupid idea.
 
I think Facebook thinks it can re-write years of email use and behavior.  May be it will be successful.  There are lot of suckers in this world.
 
What happened to their slogan “it is free and always will be”?
 
There is a reason for this experiment.  If someone unfriended you, you can write to them directly and ask why.  You can pay $1 and continue to bug your ex-girlfriend or ex-boyfriend.
 
Finally, how does the sender know that I actually read his message.  As always, I have a brilliant idea.  If an unknown stranger pays $1 to send a message to me, and if I open that message I should get 50 cents.  If I don’t open that message, Facebook can keep the $1.  They can keep $1 because they DID deliver this message to me.  Facebook can show in their report how many messages were sent and how many were opened.  This will encourage more people to send more messages and more people to open and read them.
 
What do you think?
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17 comments:

  1. RenuDecember 20, 2012 at 8:52 PM

    Not many would pay...all these sites are so popular only because they are free..

    ReplyDelete
  2. Who Posted This?December 20, 2012 at 10:20 PM

    Nice post. Informative.

    Regards,
    That Blogger


    ~you know ‘That Blogger’ – the one who doesn’t care one bit about what you wrote…but feels obligated to put up a quick generic comment just to keep you happy and make sure that YOU are still reading THEIR blog.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Who Posted This?December 20, 2012 at 10:24 PM

    You think a $1 fee is a stupid idea?
    Don't call my ideas stupid.
    My ideas may be "stolen" but they are not stupid.

    Regards,
    Mark Zuckerberg

    ~FREE...that's only my second favorite 4 letter F-word.

    ReplyDelete
  4. rudraprayagaDecember 21, 2012 at 1:49 AM

    This idea won't work I feel, because, as you said,SG, why we should send messages to unknown persons who may not even read the first word.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Privy TriflesDecember 21, 2012 at 9:32 AM

    This almost tempted me to say - What an idea sirjee :)

    He he I also wonder SG if anyone would pay for this... why would you want to contact a stranger in the first place!!


    ReplyDelete
  6. SGDecember 21, 2012 at 9:37 AM

    Thanks for your comments Renu. I agree with you. Again, we won't know how people behave.

    ReplyDelete
  7. SGDecember 21, 2012 at 9:40 AM

    Thanks for your comments That Blogger. You must have thoroughly analyzed my post. What a thoughtful and profound comment!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Destination InfinityDecember 21, 2012 at 9:44 AM

    This service makes some sense in LinkedIn, as it is normally very difficult to contact top company representatives for some B2B offers/discussions. I guess it should work better than cold-calls.

    But I wonder why it is required in FB?

    Destination Infinity

    ReplyDelete
  9. SGDecember 21, 2012 at 9:45 AM

    Thanks for your comments Mark. I wonder if this idea "came" from Winklevoss brothers or Divya Narendara!

    ReplyDelete
  10. SGDecember 21, 2012 at 9:47 AM

    Thanks for your comments Sarala. That is why I suggested 50 cents to be given if a person reads that message.

    ReplyDelete
  11. SGDecember 21, 2012 at 9:50 AM

    Thanks for your comments Me. why would anyone use this service? May be to harass ex-girlfriend.

    ReplyDelete
  12. SGDecember 21, 2012 at 9:51 AM

    Thanks for your comments Rajesh. Looks like their idea to make some money. And, of course, there are suckerd who will take this offer.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Meera SundararajanDecember 22, 2012 at 6:26 PM

    SG really... ? I agree with you. I am not sure why one should pay $1 ( or Rs 50plus in Indian currency) to write to a stranger? Along with bugging an ex girl friend one can also bug one's ex boss (:)) but sure I would like to get paid if I am jobless enough to open a message sent by a stranger or an obnoxious person I have "unfriended"!

    ReplyDelete
  14. SandhyaDecember 23, 2012 at 5:27 AM

    Other means of sending messages free of cost are there, so why would people spend one dollar a message?

    ReplyDelete
  15. M'Bai MadrasiDecember 25, 2012 at 8:23 PM

    This one has the same doomed future like the Promote your status idea. Unless and until its some business organization, craving for promotion and ads , layman would hardly monetize facebook. Gosh, after this spams would directly end up in the inbox

    ReplyDelete
  16. logicDecember 27, 2012 at 12:09 PM

    They think FB is inevitable among people..they dont know there are few clever ones out there :)

    nice blog out here

    ReplyDelete
  17. raDecember 31, 2012 at 11:00 PM

    what a crappy idea and experiment !

    i guess it's time for facebook see the downfall!!!

    ReplyDelete

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