Facebook is investigating a number of different methods that will allow members to make money from their posts. According to a report in The Verge, one of the ideas the social media giant is considering is the introduction of a 'virtual tip jar' as a way of giving money to various people or pages.
The information comes from a new user survey sent out by Facebook. In it, the company asked select members what would be their preferred method of giving money to others, or donating to a charitable cause.
In addition to the tip jar, Facebook offered other proposals for monetizing posts. These include receiving a share of the revenue generated by the ads in a post; a "call to action" function that would allow posts to have a button, such as "buy tickets," embedded in them; branded content and sponsor marketplace, which would let users earn more money from sponsored content; and a donate option for people to give money directly to a charity of the poster's choosing.
Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you feel about this sort of thing), even if Facebook does decide to roll out some of these features, the language of the survey suggests they may only be available for verified members.
In addition to the monetization proposals, the survey also asked users what data about their posts/videos they would find most interesting. The options include showing Twitter-like engagement numbers, audience information, and video completion percentages. As this is the kind of data seemingly aimed at companies and public figures, it does appear to back the theory that the new features will only be available to verified users.
Facebook recently opened up its Instant Articles feature to everyone, which allows publishers to make money from their content. And the site changed its rules on sponsored posts earlier this month.
There's no guarantee that any of the suggestions in the survey will make their way to Facebook. "It's still very early, but we're committed to creating sustainable, long-term monetization models for our partners and we're listening to feedback," a company spokesman told Fortune.