Facebook monthly fee rumor a hoax

Is it true?  Is Facebook about to start charging a fee?

Thousands of people apparently believe this latest rumor, and are copying and pasting a post to their wall, in the hope of avoiding a new monthly fee to belong to Facebook.

The posting claims that Facebook is about to unveil Bronze, Silver, and Gold levels of membership, and that you will have to pay as much as $10 a month to continue your membership.

It says you can avoid the fee if you post the memo to your wall, which many people are then doing. 

One version of the memo:

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"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."

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Wow, that's frightening:  your account will be deleted if you don't pay!  But relax, no need to get out a credit card, or repost this.  The message is a hoax.

It preys on our fear of more Facebook changes, after the recent major change to profile pages, and the addition of a "ticker."  But Facebook never announced a fee.

In addition, if Facebook were to charge for its service, millions of users would leave for Google Plus, which is free.  Facebook makes a fortune off advertising, and does not need to charge members.

This is just the latest version of the old "get a free dinner at Applebees if you forward this email" hoaxes from 10 years ago. Oh, and if you are still waiting, your free gift certificate from Applebees is not coming.

As always, don't waste your money.

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