Fewer than a quarter of Facebook users would pay a buck a month for an ad free Facebook, according to a survey by research firm, Alpha.
Alpha asked more than 1,100 Facebook users if they would pay to keep the service ad free. Not likely, said 79 percent.
Reports say Facebook is testing an ad-free version of the social network. Many not only said they would not pay to keep it free, more than 80 percent said they would leave Facebook if it starts charging for services such as private messaging, seeing and registering for events or groups.
While users said they haven’t stopped using most social networks other than a third who dropped My Space, they don’t particularly trust social media with their privacy. More than a quarter (26 percent) said they are extremely concerned with how social media uses their data, and on a scale of 1-5 with five the least trustworthy, another 28 percent rated it at a 4 and 43 percent a 3.
One user wrote that he knows Facebook is selling his data, because he has an email account associated only with Facebook and yet every day sees new advertisers in his account. “I don’t trust Zuckerberg as far as I could throw the little liar,” he wrote.
Another user, however, wrote, “I wouldn’t have an account if I was concerned with my privacy….I only post what I wouldn’t mind being out there.”
Yet another wrote, “The only reason Facebook is now attempting to change their policies is they got caught.”
