Many Facebook users have posted on their status about the latest privacy hoax. Maybe you have seen it in one of your friends' walls and they even enticed you to do the same, saying "there's nothing wrong if you try." There would be no actual change in your profile once you do this, except for the space you wasted.
The latest privacy hoax states that Facebook will update their privacy settings and will charge its users a subscription fee if they want their posts to be private. According to the circulating allegations, Facebook users need to copy-paste the message in their status so that their accounts will be automatically subscribed.
The spread of this Facebook Privacy hoax started in 2009. The only thing that has changed is the subscription fee. In the hoax made in 2009, the subscription fee is $3.99 monthly, while the latest will cost you $5.99 for a one-time registration fee.
Here is a sample of the circulating Facebook Privacy Hoax taken from Snopes.
"Now it's official! It has been published in the media. Facebook has just released the entry price: £5.99 ($9.10) to keep the subscription of your status to be set to 'private.' If you paste this message on your page, it will be offered free (I said paste not share) if not tomorrow, all your posts can become public. Even the messages that have been deleted or the photos not allowed. After all, it does not cost anything for a simple copy and paste," said the hoax post.
According to the research report of Fortune, Psychologists and Social Media Experts have said that believing in this kind of hoax can be contributed to a handful of factors.
1. Social Media Users are skeptical due to the many controversies and changes social media giants like Facebook have undergone through its development.
2. People are scared and intimidated. They are in fear because Facebook is becoming big like Google, and it makes the user feel smaller and more vulnerable.
3. Lastly, the belief that, "If so many are doing it, then it might be true."
