With the New Year approaching quickly, many of you have been talking about Facebook and whether or not they will actually begin charging us for use of the website. Some research has turned up factual information to support this although previous claims to charge for the use of Facebook have been dismissed as false.

It seems that Facebook Founder, Mark Zuckerburg has issued a statement (found here) stating “The more you use Facebook, the more you will pay.”  All indications point to a subscription based service, not a free one offering promoted posts to those who wish to purchase. All material currently housed on your Facebook pages and profiles will be grandfathered in however, new content added will be billed to your account.

Supposedly service is going to be capped at $50 per month at the high end according to Zuckerburg’s statement.  Facebook CEO Cindy Shooman is quoted as follows: “We’re going to make money hand over fist” “I think converting to a pay service is something that will make Mark want to keep the site going.  And I’ll finally get to buy an island in the Mediterranean.”

After reading this particular quote, I think it is safe to say that there are other social networks out there that are just as good as, if not better than Facebook. I would strongly recommend Google Plus if Facebook intends to charge its users for access and content.

Fees on promoted posts are already very expensive for small or local businesses and do not operate on a sliding scale depending on the size of that business. If users are charged for access and use of their profiles on top of promoted post fees, I believe that Facebook will see a sharp decline in users in the future.

2013 does not look bright for Facebook.