Facebook Will ALWAYS Be Free!

Facebook last week made a number of changes to its service, including the introduction of Timeline and the real-time news ticker. One thing it didn't do, however, was announce plans to charge for access.

The rumor spread virally on peoples' news feed, via a message that said Facebook would charge people for access unless they copied and pasted a certain message onto their Wall. "If you copy this on your wall, your icon will turn blue and Facebook will be free for you," the message said. "Please pass this message on, if not your account will be deleted if you do not pay."

The rumor made enough of an impact for Facebook to step in and formally deny it.

"A rumor on the internet caught our attention. We have no plans to charge for Facebook. It's free and always will be," Facebook announced on its own Facebook page today.

Facebook last week held its annual f8 developer conference, at which CEO Mark Zuckerberg took the stage to unveil Timeline, which is basically a digital time capsule. The service, set to formally debut later this month, lets users chart their Facebook activity from beginning to end, and tell the "story of you." For more, see 10 Things You Should Know About Facebook Timeline.

The company also announced plans to let music and media companies develop Facebook-centric apps that will allow you to share what you're watching or listening to right on Facebook. Music partners included Spotify, Rdio, Slacker, and more, while Facebook also inked deals with Netflix and Hulu. Netflix, however, will only be available in Canada and Latin America for now because of a 1988 law that prevents people from sharing details about their video-watching histories.

Earlier in the week, Facebook also introduced a revamped news feed that surfaced only the most relevant information, while a real-time "ticker" service on the top right of Facebook.com scrolled through everything happening on the site.

(pcmag.com)

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