Facebook tests £9.99 monthly subscription for sharing more than two links

Facebook is testing placing a limit on how many links some users can share when they post on the social media platform.

Notifications seen by some users based in the UK and US say they can only share a certain number of links in Facebook posts without a subscription – which starts at £9.99 per month.

Meta has described it as “a limited test to understand whether the ability to publish an increased volume of posts with links adds additional value” for subscribers.

Social media expert Matt Navarra said it signifies the company’s bid to monetise more areas of its platforms.

“This isn’t really about verification as much as about bundling survival features behind a subscription,” he told the BBC.

Meta Verified offers Facebook and Instagram users a blue tick, “enhanced” account support and protection from impersonation.

Mr Navarra said having already put a price on such features, the company now appeared to be doing the same for content distribution and “the basic ability to send people” to other parts of the internet.

He was among those recently notified of Facebook’s test – having received a notification saying from 16 December he would only be able to share two links a month in Facebook posts.

“If you’re a creator or a business, I think the message is essentially if Facebook is a part of your growth or traffic strategy, that access now has a price tag attached to it,” Mr Navarra told the BBC.

“And that’s new in its explicitness, even if it’s been the direction of travel for a while.”

Alongside other social platforms such as LinkedIn, Meta has encouraged users to verify themselves as a way to unlock more features or engagement on its platforms.

Elon Musk overhauled Twitter’s verification scheme after he bought the platform in 2022 – with X’s blue verified ticks reserved for those who pay, and giving holders a boosted presence in replies to posts and on its For You feed.

This has proved controversial, with the EU fining it €120m (£105m) in December.

Nonetheless, Mark Zuckerberg’s company Meta rolled out a similar scheme shortly thereafter.

It said it would also echo Musk’s changes at X with a “community notes” tool for users to label misleading posts, after making cuts to moderation and fact checkers.

Facebook told tech news publication TechCrunch its link-limiting test extended to a select group of users of its “professional mode” or Pages.

The features are used by many creators and businesses to promote content on the platform and gain insights into how it has performed with users.

“For creators it reinforces a pretty brutal reality that Facebook is no longer a reliable traffic engine and Meta is increasingly nudging it away from people trying to use it as one,” Mr Navarra said.

He said it also served as a reminder that “Meta will always optimise for Meta, first”.

“Tests like this underline why building a business that’s overly dependent on any one platform’s goodwill is incredibly risky,” he said.