Every time you write a post complaining about how awful Facebook is, remember that Facebook is lining its pockets with the money your whining is making it. If new social networks have anything to say about it, and if they can overcome Facebook’s staggering ubiquity, you may soon have a way to make sure you’re the one profiting off that viral video you posted of yourself getting kicked in the pants or whatever.
Social site Bonzo Me has been sharing 80% of its ad revenue with the users who generate traffic and draw in advertisers since earlier this month, and Bubblews, which has a slightly more complicated compensation plan, just came out of its testing phase. They pay users a penny per click, like, comment or other networking activity and make payouts when $50 increments are reached.
It might not sound like much, but it’s still a pretty strong statement about the way social sites currently operate. You know—how they continue to profit from basically selling your entire persona and the only thing they offer you is the ability to conveniently share all of that data with their advertisers your friends and family?
As Bonzo Me’s founder, Michael Nusbaum, put it to The Washington Post, “I just feel like everyone on social networks has been taken advantage of for long enough. Facebook has been making a ton of money, and the people providing the content aren’t getting anything.”
But aspiring social media moguls, don’t Jerry Maguire out of your current workplace just yet. Arvind Dixit, CEO of Bubblews, told them, “No one should come to our site in anticipation of being able to quit their day job, but we are trying to be fair with our users. Social networks don’t have to be places where you feel like you’re being exploited.”
It’s more about fairness than it is about providing a new profession, though I’ll be surprised if there aren’t at least a few people who make a career out of social media sites if this compensation plan catches on. Bonzo Me has already paid out about $30,000 to users, so it’s at least a much better option than that nice Nigerian prince who emails me about hiding his money every time he runs into weird legal trouble.
(via The Washington Post, image via SEO Planter)
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