Facebook Might Allow Some Users To Add A Virtual Tip Jar To Their Posts

If you’ve ever ended what you thought was a particularly witty or entertaining Facebook status update with, “Thanks, folks, I’ll be here all week!” you may have wished you could earn extra cash with such a great comedic performance. Facebook may just allow that to happen with a “tip jar” feature it’s currently toying with.

Facebook is looking into how individual users can profit from their posts, The Verge reports, citing a user survey it happened upon this week.

The survey hinted at ways that a user could make money or promote a cause, possibly by using a tip jar, or posting branded content and taking a piece of the ad revenue that’s generated from the post.

Users were asked to weigh in on things like a “call to action” button that would let followers make donations, and a “sponsor marketplace” that would match users up with advertisers.

Would these features be available to that guy you met at a party once who thought he was really funny but actually wasn’t? Probably not. While it’s unclear whether the option would be open to all, it appears that it’s targeted at verified users who have followers instead of friends, The Verge says, noting that the survey appeared on the author’s own verified Facebook page.

“It’s still very early, but we’re committed to creating sustainable, long-term monetization models for our partners and we’re listening to feedback,” a Facebook spokeswoman told The Verge.

Other social media platforms already allow users to reap monetary rewards from their posts: YouTube started a revenue-sharing program for prominent users in 2007; the Twitch streaming platform lets partners make money through revenue sharing, subscriptions, and merchandise sales; YouNow, another streaming platform that’s all the rage with the younger set, takes a cut of tips and digital gifts that fans bestow on its stars.

And of course, we’ve all seen “sponsored” posts on Twitter and Instagram, where celebrities or other famous faces shill products they received free from brands in their posts.

Facebook considers letting users add a tip jar to make money from posts [The Verge]