Facebook/Meta are now demanding a monthly fee from owners of Facebook Pages to post links to outside sites:
socialmediatoday.com/news/facebook-pages-get-charged-for-link-posts/830743
The monthly fee Meta are demanding for posting links on Facebook Pages is quite astonishing:
US$50 per month for 8 links
US$150 per month for 20 links
US$500 per month for unlimited links
This is many times more than the cost of running your own website, cloud and social media server all put together. Independence is much cheaper and better.
Esta entrada fue editada (martes, 29 de septiembre de 2026, 14:24)
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Grow Your Own Services 🌱
in reply to Grow Your Own Services 🌱 • • •p.s. I know someone who runs a tiny volunteer non-profit that depends on posting links to their events website on their Facebook Page, and they are now being told to pay 50 euros a month if they post more than two links. This is way beyond their budget.
Meta is simultaneously trying to exploit people trapped by the network effect, and also kill the open web. This kind of "Danegeld" situation is just going to get worse the longer people stay on Meta and other centralised corporate services.
Esther Payne reshared this.
LukefromDC
in reply to Grow Your Own Services 🌱 • • •Note that those still stuck on FB might be able to work around this by hiding links in text in this way:
ZuckSucks(dot)com
I do not know whether FB runs a string search on all posts looking for such things, but replacing (dot) with things like (period) or anything else human understandable would turn such a search into a cat and mouse game.
Cassandrich
in reply to LukefromDC • • •@LukefromDC I'm pretty sure you can do that, but the Facebook app for Android or iOS doesn't let you highlight and selectively copy text, so there's no way for most readers to get that into the browser's URL bar without memorizing the whole thing and retyping it, even if they do know what a URL bar is.
Google and Apple share in responsibility for this. It should be impossible to block copy/paste in the default UI frameworks, and using custom ones to work around that should preclude publishing in the app stores.
LukefromDC
in reply to Cassandrich • • •@dalias I was thinking more of in-browser. The Facebook APP has so malicious a history I consider an entire machine compromised if it is installed. Thus, I was completely unaware of that game.
One more reason for these businesses to use their FB accounts to share one link only: to their real website. Then they can walk away from Meta, leaving the old account serving as a static redirect only. By the time FB bans them for this, their customers should have gotten the message to go to their site on the real web not on FB anymore.
This sort of thing is really a different world than I know computing wise. I don't use any Meta product, any website or business app, any closed source app, or the corporate app stores. Most of them I have never even seen their UI's. I really don't know much of that world save for its history of privacy and security breaches-and that monetized websites want you to use their (cr)app so its harder to block ads. Ads are another thing I never allow.
Bl
... Mostrar más@dalias I was thinking more of in-browser. The Facebook APP has so malicious a history I consider an entire machine compromised if it is installed. Thus, I was completely unaware of that game.
One more reason for these businesses to use their FB accounts to share one link only: to their real website. Then they can walk away from Meta, leaving the old account serving as a static redirect only. By the time FB bans them for this, their customers should have gotten the message to go to their site on the real web not on FB anymore.
This sort of thing is really a different world than I know computing wise. I don't use any Meta product, any website or business app, any closed source app, or the corporate app stores. Most of them I have never even seen their UI's. I really don't know much of that world save for its history of privacy and security breaches-and that monetized websites want you to use their (cr)app so its harder to block ads. Ads are another thing I never allow.
Blocking copy/paste in a browser is easily defeated unlike in these apps. Also note that most management of posts I am used to doing from a full-scale desktop just like I did 25 years ago. I basically sat out the whole "Facebook on iPhone counter-revolution." While others were sharing their real names and birthdays on Facebook and watching ads, I was keeping non-ad supported DC Indymedia relevent with news reporting.
I personally believe Meta needs to be shut down outright or at least broken up. Zuck should be disposessed without compensation, each service now owned by Meta spun off, and what's left of Meta then dissolved in bankruptcy.
Cassandrich
in reply to LukefromDC • • •LukefromDC
in reply to Cassandrich • • •@dalias That brings the problem of TESTING the page in question on the offending app. I would recommend a cheap phone used for nothing else to quarantine the FB app. This phone can be connected to the business's wifi or tethered to another phone (so as not to pay for phone service).
Sometimes I've had reports of my news videos not playing on iPhones. As I am not willing to pay for Apple hardware I have to respond that I have no way to debug/support anything iOS. All I can do is ensure that no warning messages appear in terminal when playing the videos from mpv on the desktop, check HW acceleration, and avoid doing anything fancy in the H264 codec settings.
Grow Your Own Services 🌱
in reply to Grow Your Own Services 🌱 • • •p.p.s. If you know an organisation that is interested in trying to set up their own online presence, I've done a guide to managed hosting services at growyourown.services/what-are-managed-hosting-providers
Managed hosting means the hosting company does all the technical stuff (installation, maintenance, upgrades etc) and it's included in the monthly hosting costs. You don't need to be a techy person to run your own online services any more.
Managed Hosting: The easy way to run your own online services – Grow Your Own Services
GrowYourOwn (Grow Your Own Services)Esther Payne reshared this.
H
in reply to Grow Your Own Services 🌱 • • •ganxel
in reply to Grow Your Own Services 🌱 • • •Grow Your Own Services 🌱
in reply to ganxel • • •@ganxel
There ought to be some kind of regulation that public services must (also) provide info by a platform-neutral method such as websites and RSS etc, which can then be piped through to whatever platforms people are on.
Robert Kingett
in reply to ganxel • • •Dylan 🦥
in reply to Grow Your Own Services 🌱 • • •Rythur
in reply to Dylan 🦥 • • •DRUGS
Alice Pea (she/her) 🏳️⚧️
in reply to Grow Your Own Services 🌱 • • •Woah, what a scam.
I could host a website with multiple subdomains, running on a decent VPS (4GB ram, 80GB disk, 2vCPU) for less than the 8 links for 50 option on Zuckerberg's crack house.
The best thing: I can link as many times as I please. My site, my rules!
#Scam #Meta #MetaPlatformsIrelandLimited #Facebook
Jaye 🍊
in reply to Grow Your Own Services 🌱 • • •Love monopolies, they're ever so creative. They take things we all did for free and figure out ways to charge us for them.
Their Relationships As A Service platform is going really well.
#DeleteMeta
Lins&
in reply to Grow Your Own Services 🌱 • • •This might legitimately be what kills facebook, unless users find suitable workarounds.
Like, the ability to link to outside sites is essential. It is , in effect, what keeps people from fully moving- they can link to whatever they need too wherever they need to, and simply go where the people are among those links.
by attempting to set a only-in traffic flow, facebook may be large enough for this to have a benefit in the short term. but i really find it hard to believe it'd benefit them in the long term. i don't know of a single social site thats popular and disallows external links, maybe unless its only for a single-use, like dating.
at the bare minimum, they need to continue to allow at least *one* external link, i'm pretty sure..
Kent Navalesi ☕️
in reply to Grow Your Own Services 🌱 • • •el Celio 🇪🇺 🇺🇦
in reply to Kent Navalesi ☕️ • • •romli
in reply to Grow Your Own Services 🌱 • • •LukefromDC
in reply to Grow Your Own Services 🌱 • • •I am so glad I have never been on Facebook and don't even know what the site's UI looks like.
I have always hated their business model and their in-house snitches. Their serving up data to cops with not only no warrant but without even waiting to be asked for it was the reason I turned against them literally when I learned of their existance from a Washington Post article.
If Facebook ever captures the whole Internet, I will disconnect and go back to analog. You won't find me on Facebook, no matter what happens.
rickf - a cynical professor
in reply to LukefromDC • • •Same. Never been on it and have no desire to be on it, ever.
Chaotic Catboy
in reply to Grow Your Own Services 🌱 • • •"This is many times more than the cost of running your own website, cloud and social media server all put together."
Not if you don't know how to do those things. The cost of either paying someone else to do them or learning to do them yourself is something I rarely see included in arguments like this, and it is not zero for a majority of small businesses
Grow Your Own Services 🌱
in reply to Chaotic Catboy • • •You don't need to do the techy stuff to host your own services any more! 🙂
There are "managed hosting" companies where they do all the technical things for you behind the scenes, and it's included in the hosting fees. They start from typically 5-10 euros/dollars a month for the smallest server.
I did a guide to them at growyourown.services/what-are-managed-hosting-providers/
Managed Hosting: The easy way to run your own online services – Grow Your Own Services
GrowYourOwn (Grow Your Own Services)Chaotic Catboy
in reply to Grow Your Own Services 🌱 • • •Grow Your Own Services 🌱
in reply to Chaotic Catboy • • •No, you own the service and you can switch your site to a different provider if you don't like the one you're currently using.
This is something you can't do on monopolies like Facebook 😞
Chaotic Catboy
in reply to Grow Your Own Services 🌱 • • •A very stubborn phoenix
in reply to Grow Your Own Services 🌱 • • •Matthew
in reply to Grow Your Own Services 🌱 • • •Jarek Kopeć
in reply to Grow Your Own Services 🌱 • • •elsass_bear
in reply to Grow Your Own Services 🌱 • • •Whatever the Zuck is doing, it fails.
Mausmaki 🇧🇷🇻🇪
in reply to Grow Your Own Services 🌱 • • •softproof
in reply to Grow Your Own Services 🌱 • • •Wow - talk about keeping it in the family...
Interesting. And good job I'm a babe in the basket, meta-wise.
Franz Graf
in reply to Grow Your Own Services 🌱 • • •50$ PER MONTH?!
My webhosting costs about 6€ and I can do whatever I want (imcl backup and wordpress updating itself automatically)
Carlos Solís
Unknown parent • •En fri prins
in reply to Grow Your Own Services 🌱 • • •Netzblockierer
in reply to Grow Your Own Services 🌱 • • •also it's most likely illegal since in many juristictions, one needs to provide proper contact details and links for direct, off-platform contact.
Luke Harby
in reply to Grow Your Own Services 🌱 • • •"What else can we monetise?"
"Hyperlinks!"
Rainer Burkhardt
in reply to Grow Your Own Services 🌱 • • •/S
Moonshine Brigade
in reply to Grow Your Own Services 🌱 • • •being able to link outside the network was one of the few positive differences compared to their Instagram platform.
According to that pie, posts that contain a link(s) will get a lot less traction, right? Will paying to use links change that? I guess more #danegeld will be required to get noticed...
I was watching Valhalla yesterday, the English king also mentioned Danegeld
So publishers are valuable to FB, i hope they'll utilize that.
#payola #enshittification
ralocycleuse
in reply to Grow Your Own Services 🌱 • • •france3-regions.franceinfo.fr/occitanie/herault/sete/la-mairie-n-est-pas-une-entreprise-facebook-int…
"La mairie n’est pas une entreprise" : Facebook interdit de publier gratuitement des liens externes, cette mairie monte au créneau
Léa Morineau (France 3 Occitanie)bob.php
in reply to Grow Your Own Services 🌱 • • •final tomato approaches
in reply to Grow Your Own Services 🌱 • • •Captain Jack Sparrow
in reply to Grow Your Own Services 🌱 • • •Maria Langer
in reply to Grow Your Own Services 🌱 • • •@LJ And this is the perfect reason why businesses should NOT use Facebook as their "website." I'm glad Meta is doing this. Maybe it'll wake a few people up.🙄
Let's get business content off social media sites and on the open Web where it should be.
Patrick
in reply to Grow Your Own Services 🌱 • • •Shannon Clark
in reply to Grow Your Own Services 🌱 • • •@cellio and this hits anyone who has a “professional profile” on FB (which is necessary if you have folks who follow your posts whom you don’t want to have to connect with as friends. And will hit countless small businesses and individual creators.
It’s inane. But alas having your own website doesn’t solve the same problem as a FB page/profile does - you want folks to be able to engage with your content, to share it, to comment on it and follow up
Per Haps ✅✔✓☑
in reply to Grow Your Own Services 🌱 • • •I realize that people and organizations have to go where their friends and customers are, but something became apparent early on in the commercialization of the Internet, and most of us shrugged it off:
Before entering a walled garden, one should check that there are easy exits.
So glad to have exited that particular garden when the vines started to overtake.
Grow Your Own Services 🌱
in reply to Per Haps ✅✔✓☑ • • •@perhaps391
I sympathise with organisations that have to do this, but they could at least provide people with an alternative to walled gardens. If they don't provide alternatives, then they are forcing their own customers into the walled gardens too.