Facebook To Start Their Own Crowdfunding Platform
Facebook is really trying to spread itself, in order to reach every corner of the Internet. It’s latest addition to the internet take-over is a new crowdfunding feature. The company released a new Fundraiser product that allows non-profit organizations to set up a campaign page to raise funds. They can share a video portraying their goals, they can collect the money and let people share News Feed posts with buttons so that their friends can contribute without clicking on a new page.
Facebook has been focused on non-profit organizations for some time now, starting with the introduction of their ‘Donate’ button in 2013 and then later on launched a ‘Buy’ button for shopping. However, Facebook could probably also use this same idea of catering to the non-profits and build on a profitable future. Crowdfunding does seem to be the new in-thing in the social media circle especially with Kickstarter and Indigogo rising. However, these companies rely mainly on the re-sharing statistics on sites like Facebook for their own social graphs.
Apart from the fact that they rely heavily on exterior websites for their popularity and reach, it is also a very time consuming process for the pledger to support or fund any particular project. One usually has to leave Facebook to visit the campaign’s page, maybe enter another exterior credit card and billing window, and then sharing the campaign back on Facebook. Therefore, Facebook is basically trying to save peoples’ time by creating their own crowdfunding platform.
The platform on Facebook will allow users to discover new projects, make payments all within the same platform. The Fundraiser feature also allows people who would like to show their support towards a project without having to make monetary payments via a “Join” button. This button will allow the supporter to receive updates about the project; they’ll also be able to post on the page and invite friends to join the campaign.
This project could also lure people into a more one-time set-up flow payment system and thereby attract more pledges. Apart from this advertisements for the website’s own pages could contribute to socializing and browsing within their own website, since these ads will only lead you to another page within the website.
Facebook seems to have really caught on to a major consumer attraction concept of how to save time. This new project does seem like it has a lot of potential and with Facebook’s already vast expanse, nothing seems impossible for the social networking website.
