Facebook Tests Paid Subscription for Groups with Exclusive Content

While we are still debating whether a paid subscription to Facebook Groups is ethical, the Social Media Giant itself has started piloting a program for the same.

Yes, Facebook will soon roll out membership fees for groups with exclusive content. This will allow group administrators to charge their members a monthly subscription fee in exchange for content, including tutorials, advice, and videos.

Facebook tests ‘subscription Groups’ that charge for exclusive content
According to Alex Deve, product management director for Groups, presently a very small number of private groups focusing on parenting, cooking and home cleaning will be the first ones to enjoy this privilege.

The price would range anywhere from $4.99 to $29.99 of which, Facebook wouldn’t be collecting any cut for now. Groups admins will be able to keep a track of the payments and collect subscriptions through the platform itself.

Currently, one group called ‘Declutter My Home’ started by Sarah Mueller is getting a new paid subgroup called ‘Organize My Home.’ Subscription to this group will cost $14.99. All members within this group will be able to access actionable checklists, live videos, tutorials and more, and work with each other on bite-sized projects or interact via group challenges, training and live Q&A.

Likewise, there’s another group called ‘Grown and Flown Parents’ with a paid subgroup called ‘College Admissions and Affordability.’ The subgroup is dedicated to college prep and has access to college counselors. The monthly subscription fee to this group is $29.99.

Facebook’s pilot project is aimed at finding the scope of paid services. As of now, there’s no provision for monetizing groups unless admins opt for a subscribers-only group and manage payment via third-party tools. This effort by the Social Media giant will come as a big relief as it will now be easier for admins to manage all of this with built-in tools, thus saving time and energy.

This is not the first time Facebook has experimented with paid subscriptions. Earlier in March this year, support was extended to video creators as well by presenting a subscription-based model that would require viewers to pay for premium content.

Although this news is being welcomed by group admins worldwide, it also raises an extremely important question. Is free content on Facebook coming to an end?

We’ll come up with more information soon!