Facebook is rolling out a feature in the U.S. that lets users pay to promote their posts to friends, just as advertisers do.
Facebook has been testing the service in New Zealand, where it tries out a lot of new features, and has gradually introduced it in more than 20 other countries. Facebook said Wednesday that promoting a post – such as announcing a garage sale, charity drive or big news like an engagement – will bump it higher in your friends’ news feeds.
“Every day, news feed delivers your posts to your friends. Sometimes a particular friend might not notice your post, especially if a lot of their friends have been posting recently and your story isn’t near the top of their feed,” wrote Abhishek Doshi, a software engineer at Facebook, on Facebook’s news site.
Facebook didn’t say how much it will cost to promote the posts. On Wednesday, though, some users could see $7 as a cost per each update that they want to promote.
News Tribune news services
JOIN THE DISCUSSION | Register here
We welcome comments. Please keep them civil, short and to the point. ALL CAPS, spam, obscene, profane, abusive and off topic comments will be deleted. Repeat offenders will be blocked. Thanks for taking part — and abiding by these simple rules. A thorough explanation of rules of conduct can be found in our Terms of Service. If you have any questions, including why your comment may not be showing immediately after you submit it, be sure to visit the commenting FAQ.