Media mogul Zuckerberg wants to put you in touch with anyone you choose.
How much would you pay to have direct contact with a celebrity? Ten dollars? Twenty Dollars? A hundred Dollars? That is what social media giant Facebook is banking on with it’s brand new app. The Guardian has released a story reporting that the company has a new program in development that would supposedly allow admirers to send a message straight to the star of their choice. All for a fee of course. It is a curious move seeing as Facebook’s creator Mark Zuckerberg coined the company mantra that Facebook is free and always will be.
Interestingly enough, Zuckerberg was the first guinea pig used; for a hundred dollars users could send him a private message. While this is a far call from the creation of a Facebook subscription, it does leave users wondering what the site has in store for it’s members next. It is understandable that the Zuckerberg trial fell flat, how many people are actually looking to chat with the creator of Facebook? (Ok, I can think of a few.) The idea of putting celebrities into the mix,though, is another animal entirely. Many avid fans already follow their favorite musicians, actors and socialites on different social media venues such as Instagram and Tumblr. Often times, the fan will comment on a picture of their interest and all but pray that they receive a response. Some lucky ones do get a reply back much to the envy of their peers. So it is not hard to imagine that many would shell out the cash to actually talk to the celebrity of their choice. This leaves me with a series of questions regarding the messaging process.
- Who will you actually be talking to? It’s true that many would trust that the reply they receive was actually sent by the celebrity the chose. They paid good money for it, of course. But I am more of a skeptic. It is well known that all celebrities have handlers, an entourage and a hefty PR squad. Who is to say that they aren’t the ones actually answering these messages? It could simply be likened to fan mail, answered by one of their many team members. Will Facebook actually be able to guarantee it’s members that the responses will be genuine?
- Does this violate any sort of privacy laws? We are all guilty of Facebook stalking at one time or another. But this takes it to a whole new level. We have all read about the rabid fans who literally stalk their obsessions to the point of attempting to break into their homes. Judges grant more and more restraining orders against overly zealous celeb enthusiasts out of fear for their safety. If a fan truly wanted, they could pay a few bucks to bombard someone with a flurry of crazed messages. How many of the rich and famous would actually want this kind of spam in their inbox? This idea alone reinforces my theory that the celebrities will not actually be answering the messages themselves.
It costs more money to message higher profile individuals a rating system that Facebook has created based on the number of followers someone has. While the program has yet to be implemented on Facebook in the United States, it’s only in the UK for now, I am sure it would be a hit. With our love for Hollywood I am sure that we would be all over it. Only time will tell if the new messaging system will be popular with users.
The Social Butterfly
Would you pay to have a tête-à-tête with your favorite celebrity? Or is Facebook way off base with their bold proposal? Leave your comments here.
I had no idea that this was in the works! I think it’s kind of ridiculous to pay to “talk” to a celebrity. Like you said, how do you know you won’t be talking to their web team? Although I do know a few people who probably would pay $100+ to talk to their favorite celebrity. So maybe Facebook has something there…who know’s? I guess we’ll see in the upcoming months.