Is Facebook Charging If You Don’t Post About the Price Grid?

This past weekend you probably saw new Facebook changes when you logged in to share your weekend plans, and you might have seen several top stories from friends claiming that Facebook would begin charging for their service.

Many users have fallen for this prank because we associate major online changes and upgrades with fees. Facebook has made some major changes and will roll out a new Facebook timeline in a few weeks.

(Read: How to Get Facebook’s Timeline Feature Now)

The good news is that Facebook is not charging for membership.

The current message being passed around is as follows, taken from one of the thousands of users who are posting in hopes of keeping Facebook free for them.

FACEBOOK JUST RELEASED THEIR PRICE GRID FOR MEMBERSHIP. $9.99 PER MONTH FOR GOLD MEMBER SERVICES, $6.99 PER MONTH FOR SILVER MEMBER SERVICES, $3.99 PER MONTH FOR BRONZE MEMBER SERVICES, FREE IF YOU COPY AND PASTE THIS MESSAGE BEFORE MIDNIGHT TONIGHT. WHEN YOU SIGN ON TOMORROW MORNING YOU WILL BE PROMPTED FOR PAYMENT INFO…IT IS OFFICIAL IT WAS EVEN ON THE NEWS. FACEBOOK WILL START CHARGING DUE TO THE NEW PROFILE CHANGES. IF YOU COPY THIS ON YOUR WALL YOUR ICON WILL TURN BLUE AND FACEBOOK WILL BE FREE FOR YOU. PLEASE PASS THIS MESSAGE ON IF NOT YOUR ACCOUNT WILL BE DELETED IF YOU DO NOT PAY

There are many things wrong with this message, besides the fact that it is written in all caps.

1. No Definitive date
2. Contradictions – Your account will be deleted, but you will be asked to pay
3. The person you saw post this? Is there Profile pic blue? Nope.
4. No link to official statement or news report.
5. Facebook states on the home page, “It’s free and always will be.”

The biggest reason Facebook will remain free is that the company makes money by selling you to advertisers. The service is paid for with ads and with the information that Facebook collects about your and your habits.

This information reportedly brought Facebook $355 Million in net profits last year, and is set to bring the company even more in 2011.

In short, Facebook is able to make a lot of money without getting bogged down in the hassles of actually asking you to pay and processing the payment.