Facebook testing Promoted Posts for all users

You might already be familiar with different companies and brands promoting their status updates or tweets on Facebook and Twitter. By paying social networks, these companies make sure their messages are read by as many people as possible in the form of "promoted" content, and it looks like Facebook is expanding this feature to regular users as well.

Today, Facebook began testing Promoted Posts for regular users in the US (the feature has already been rolling out in New Zealand). By paying around $7 per post, Facebook will make sure your status updates will more likely be seen by your friends. Along with the increased visibility, Promoted Posts will come with a tool that lets users see how many people have seen their posts.

Testing out potential new features to a select group of users is a tactic that Facebook is known for. It did the same thing when they introduced automatic photo uploads for Android a couple weeks ago. To find out if you're one of the lucky ones who got access to the feature, a new "Promote" button will show up next to "Like" and "Comment" underneath your posts.

We can see where this could be useful for everyday users. Obviously, it's not something you would use on every single status update or post, but if you're posting some photos to a special event or want to celebrate someone's birthday by posting a special birthday wish, we can see why some people would want to promote these kinds of posts if they're willing to shell out $7 to do so.

[via The Verge]