2 questions for Facebook users:

[dixiegrrrrl]

I do not have an account, so don't know about Facebook.
I am reading this: is it true, in your expereince?

Facebook is asking you to pay to have people see your pages.
Here:
if you want to speak to the other 80 to 85 percent of people who signed up to hear from you, “sponsoring posts is important.”
http://www.adexchanger.com/social-media/inside-the-world-of-gokul-rajaram-facebooks-ad-architect/

and
Facebook is covering your pages with advertising.

In other words not only do they insist that a person with a page pay to reach most of the people who "like" them, they also then spam the users who like the page with their own advertising.
This has turned Facebook for many people into nothing other than an advertising medium where whatever your friends were foolish enough to "like" and the advertiser bought being shoved in your nose while your friend's wedding announcement or banter on this or that is pushed off the page entirely!
http://market-ticker.org/akcs-www?post=214555

[RoccoR5955]

1. Rumor

COMPANIES and others are paying for people to see ADS. "sponsored" posts are nothing more than advertisements, AFAIC.

[Chan790]

2. Better, as someone who makes their living off social media.

1.) Yes. This has actually always been half-true: Facebook curates the content of your wall; it's done to make sure that the most important stories and the people and pages you interact with most get priority over the those you have less contact with or the stories that have no attention and you don't get buried in posts. (Nothing really going back to the early days of the page ever really got seen by more than 35% of your friends) "Likes" and "shares" factor into this, stories with more "likes" and "shares" are deemed more important and get priority over those of people you interact with equally with less "likes". What the new "promoted posts" does is allow someone to pay to prioritize their post. The fact that this is open to everybody (most online advertising is not, sold through brokers like Google Ad-Sense and Akamai) and the rates are affordable and based on total-followers is actually a good thing...I can promote the post about my wedding (No, I'm not getting married. It was an example.) to my 160 friends and it costs me $5. I can promote the page of my small-business client for $30 (they have 560 followers) or I can promote my big corporate client (Coca-Cola, for example, with its 5000000 followers.) for about $10000.

2.) Facebook has always experimented with finding ways to monetize its users and advertise to them. This is not new. The newest approaches are actually less invasive than past efforts including interjecting paid advertising into your stream based on data-mining...that was creepy, "like" travel and get "sponsored posts" pitching you on Jamaica for the next month.

[dixiegrrrrl]

3. Thank you very much for taking the time to give that informative reply.

DU, at its best.

[Lex]

4. As far as I can tell

only businesses pay to promote posts, and only ones you "like" would should up on your page. I can't think of a single reason for a person to pay to promote a post that will appear on their friends pages anyway.

As for the advertising, it's like here at DU---yes you get ads on your pages. (Unless you pay here at DU.)

[dixiegrrrrl]

7. (Unless you pay here at DU.)

or use an ad blocker.

[Lex]

8. ad blocker

would probably work at the FB page too

[dixiegrrrrl]

9. Lol..somebody said he marks all the FB ads as "sexually offensive"

Apparently FB will not show ads you find offensive?
If so, had to applaud his ingenuity.

[WilliamPitt]

5. No, and no.

I'm pretty active on FB. No on both accounts in my experience.

[PATXgirl]

6. If you have a business page, as I do for a small business, they do offer a paid option to get your

Post in front of the people who have already "liked" your page and at one time saw your posts for free. It's not an unreasonable fee...just a headache after being able to network on Facebook for free before.