Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB)’s latest “small experiment” will allow certain third parties to pay $1, in order to reroute their messages to a person’s Inbox, instead of their Other folder.
Currently, the messages sent from a person to someone they are not connected with are banished to the “Other” folder, rather than sent to the Inbox.
But Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) is now testing the possibility of a Facebook profile sending a message directly to the inbox of another, unconnected, profile. This kind of access will of course have a price; the sum of $1.
In a post on the Facebook blog, the company said it will be evaluating the “usefulness of economic signals” in order to determine what messages, from someone unconnected, may be relevant to a given user.
“This test will give a small number of people the option of paying to have a message routed to the Inbox rather than the Other folder of a recipient that they are not connected with.”
On the same blog post, Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) gave some examples of messages that may count as relevant and be worth paying for:
“This test is designed to address situations where neither social nor algorithmic signals are sufficient. For example, if you want to send a message to someone you heard speak at an event but are not friends with, or if you want to message someone about a job opportunity, you can use this feature to reach their Inbox. For the receiver, this test allows them to hear from people who have an important message to send them.”
In order to allay fears in those that worry they may suddenly be snowed under a mountain of spam from advertisers, Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) also added that: “the number of messages a person can have routed from their Other folder to their Inbox will be limited to a maximum of one per week.”
Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) stock stands at $27.43 at the time of writing.
