In a new experiment, Meta limits the number of links users can post to Facebook unless they have a paid Meta Verified subscription.
Over the past week, several users have spotted Meta testing, which impacts link publishing. Social media strategist Matt Navvara noted that users participating in the test can only post two links unless they pay for a Meta Verified subscription, which starts from $14.99 per month.
According to the screenshot posted by Navarra, users can still post affiliate links, comments, and links to posts on the Meta platform, including Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp.
The company confirmed the test to TechCrunch and said it impacts people using Business Mode and Facebook Pages. Professional mode allows you to convert your personal profile into a creator profile while making your content eligible for discovery by a wider audience.
“This is a limited test to understand whether the ability to publish an increased volume of posts with links adds additional value for Meta Verified subscribers,” a Meta spokesperson told TechCrunch.
This would directly impact creators and brands posting links from their blogs or other platforms to reach a wider audience.
The company said it is trying to learn how it can add more value to Meta Verified subscribers, and this test is one such experiment to improve this paid plan. The company added that, at this time, publishers are not included in this test. It also states that users can still post links in comments and are not affected by the limit.
In its third-quarter transparency report, Meta said that more than 98% of feed views in the United States come from posts that are unrelated. It’s unclear, however, whether this signal prompted the company to experiment with limits on link sharing. The company said the majority of the 1.9% views of posts containing links came from a page it followed. Related posts shared by friends and groups were minimal.
The same report notes that YouTube and TikTok, as well as GoFundMe, were the top domains among the links posted. With the new link posting limit test, creators and brands would be forced to post content from other Meta platforms if they hit their limit, or stop posting altogether if they didn’t want to pay a subscription.
As AI takes over the Internet, the debate over the link-based web still rages. AI-powered summaries and search have had a negative impact on the publishing industry. Over the past few years, social networks like X have played with demoting linked posts to encourage users to post content to the platforms natively.
