Will Free Social Media Soon Be a Thing of the Past?

Not to put too dark of a spin on things, but this is turning out to be a pretty bad year for social media!

In my last blogpost, I chided Twitter for making certain features only available to paid subscribers.

Well, I guess Zuck didn’t read me because Meta is now adding a paid verification service for Facebook and Instagram.

I mean, come on guys, how many grandmothers and retirees are going to sign up for this service?

It’s not exactly making the Chief Twit rich over at Twitter.

To make matters worse, I just found out that Hootsuite is ending its free option and only will offer pricey paid plans.

What’s next?

Once upon a time when I got into this business, I was able to talk with clients and prospects about the free and near free options available to help them with their social media.

There was a good story to tell.

Not any more!

In the case of Hootsuite, they’ll probably lose more users than will sign up.

Of course, I’ll subscribe, I like the tool and it works for me.

Many of my clients won’t. 

Now, with free services going the way of the dodo bird, I expect business to be better for folks like myself who have the tools and the expertise to use them.

Still, watching an era come to an end is always sad.

I can still remember the early days of the Internet with all its promise and innocence not to mention all the freebies.

Things have changed a lot since that time, some for the better, too much not.

I suspect that we’re seeing a trend start here and subscription services will become the norm.

It was good while it lasted!

That’s it for now!

Please check out my 8 step approach for developing a social media program for more ideas on how to use social media.

Also, never forget to reach out to either ask questions or to ask for help from someone like myself!

In the meantime, thank you for following and reading my blog.

I look forward to any and all comments that you may have. I will reply to any comments made to this blog post as promptly as I can.

And, remember!

I do this for a living and if I can be of any assistance to either you or your organization, please feel free to call on me. Our initial discussion will be of no charge to you.