Facebook wants to charge you $100 to message me... what the what?

A few days ago, Mashable put out an article about Facebook wanting to charge you $100 to send a message to its founder Mark Zuckerberg.  But, I just discovered that Facebook also wants to charge the same fee for contacting me.  Huh?

Listen, Facebook.  This isn't cool.

Why?

Journalists are supposed to give a voice to the voiceless.  I don't see how this helps our cause.  How are people who don't know me supposed to send me story ideas?  I'm sure viewers will only take this out on me... and I surely am not going to get a cut of this $100.  And, even if I could, I wouldn't want it.  

My media ownership group also required all of its employees to set up a Facebook page.  So, if this rollout comes to my page, will the station take some accountability for the messages?  Certainly not; that is insane.

I am just a local gal trying to cover the local news.  As much as I'd like to think of myself as a really cool person, I'm simply not.  I have always been accessible to people who want to be in touch, and this is really discouraging.

And, let this be a lesson to anyone out there.  If it can happen to me, it can surely happen to anyone - journalists, public figures, actual cool people... 

Why didn't Facebook give me a heads up?  I might understand this more if there were verified Facebook users or a special designation given to those who come with $100 messaging.  But again, I would've opted out.

This is troubling to me.  Most of my viewers are still using Facebook.  

UPDATE, 11:54 a.m. :  

There's been a lot of discussion on Google Plus and Facebook since I wrote this post.  A couple of things here - I understand that the messages can still come through to my "other" inbox.  But, again, I don't want my accessibility to be associated with money.  I do not take gifts or money for my work (payola), and I can't guarantee someone out there will know Facebook is behind this $100 fee.

Final thoughts, 24 hours later:

After a long day of talking about this post, I have some final thoughts in addition to what I posted above.  


I realize this is only a test and that Facebook has to make money.  That being said, I feel strongly that a journalist's accessibility should not be tied to money.  In a real world perspective, if you walked up to me and offered me $100 to pitch a story, I would turn you down.  I know it's under Facebook's discretion, but I would hope FB makes ethical decisions. 

Another point - if you paid $100 to spam me, how much unsavory content would I have to endure?  Would I have the opportunity to report it?  Are spammers with $100 to burn better than poor people who may have a good idea?

The other box is a great idea, however I recently checked my other box and it had several legitimate messages that I missed.  Why does it matter if I have an other box when I still need to check it everyday?  

I finally found the way to get to the other box via mobile, but it wasn't a way that you'd assume.  Either way, I know this isn't the end of the world, but I do hope people voice their concerns if they have them.  I'm not looking for a fight, I'm just looking for some consideration.

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Twitter: @MichelleLiTV
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PS - Thanks to my Google Plus friends Brian Parker and Stormy Henderson for bringing this to my attention.  Also, as with every post on this site, this is MY opinion alone.