Facebook is testing a new feature called Highlight, which will allow users of the social network to promote their posts in friends' news feeds for money. was the first to draw attention to this The New Zealand blog Stuff .

When one user tried to post a new status, Facebook offered to make it more visible for a couple of dollars (see screenshot below). Stuff contacted Facebook, who confirmed it was not a scam. “We are constantly testing various experimental functions. This particular test is needed to determine whether users are interested in this way of communicating with their friends,” the press service of the social network diplomatically stated.

It is known that the amount for “highlighting” a post still varies (in some cases, Highlight is offered for free). Facebook needs this to determine the optimal price for the service. It is not reported how many users took part in the experiment.

each user’s status Now, on average, is seen by only about 12% of his friends. It is possible that many people will actually be willing to pay money to significantly increase this percentage. In this case, Highlight will turn out to be an unexpected source of income for Facebook. On the other hand, the negative effect of innovation may be even stronger.

Facebook creates a news feed using algorithms aimed at identifying the most interesting posts for each individual person. Most often these are tweets from close friends or resonant posts that have received the most likes and comments. A feature like Highlight, the equivalent of which is quite popular on a variety of dating sites, can turn this mechanism on its head.

In turn , Techcrunch suggests that Facebook is not actually going to introduce Highlight, but is simply trying to demonstrate to investors in the run-up to its IPO that it is willing to consider a variety of ways to monetize its service.

Facebook posts can be promoted for money