Facebook is still free, so stop with that silly rumor
The social network addresses the latest hoax that it will charge members $9.99.
It happens every so often; a rumor starts somewhere in cyberspace and people pass it around as if it's true, like they really believe it. With all of the Facebook chatter over changes that have just been implemented--a new News Feed and Ticker--as well as upcoming changes announced at Facebook's f8 developer's conference, Facebook users can't help but join in the conversation.
From members posting about how they welcome the upgrades to many threatening to flee the social network because they liked Facebook sans updates, another Facebook tale started to make the rounds this past weekend. It's one we've heard before: Facebook is going to charge you $9.99 monthly--supposedly.
These were the messages that were being passed around from profile to profile:
"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"
"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"
Relax, users. These memos are not true.
Facebook addressed the hoax on its own page last night, in fact, saying, "A rumor on the Internet caught our attention. We have no plans to charge for Facebook. It's free and always will be."
Besides, Facebook doesn't need your money. The company, which is valued at more than $80 billion, is already in the billion-dollar range in profits for the first and second quarters of 2011 alone, says Reuters.
This story originally appeared on CBSNews.com.