Would You Ever Pay To Use Facebook?

Facebook has always proudly touted the fact that its services are "free and always will be." But how much would users have to drop if they were forced to pay their worth?

TechCrunch did some fast math following the filing of Facebook's amended S-1 forms on April 23, and their calculations revealed that if Facebook keeps up its current revenue rate, it would earn between $4.69 and $4.81 from each of its 901 million users every year.

Imagine, for a moment, if you were footing that bill and handing over roughly $5 to Facebook at the end of 2012. Is the social network -- with all its photos, apps, birthday reminders and notes from friends -- worth shelling out a crisp Abe Lincoln every 12 months? Sure, five bucks might seem like a lot to pay for access to a social network we've always used for free, but consider how much Pandora or Dropbox users are willing to pay to upgrade from free to paid versions of those products.

Upgrading to a Pandora premium account, called Pandora One, offers Internet radio with custom skins, higher quality audio and no ads; but the new perks set you back $36 a year. And Dropbox's Pro plans, which give members more space to use online, can cost as much as $199 a year.

On the other hand, when comparing how much users are supposedly worth to other social networking sites like Twitter and Pinterest, five bucks for a Facebook profile seems a little steep. If Twitter's revenue hits $259.9 million as it's expected to this year, each of its 563 million registered accounts would be worth a mere 46 cents. And while Pinterest's revenue has yet to be revealed, if it's around the ballpark of $9 million as GigaOM's Rags Srinivasan estimates, its 10.4 million users would each be worth about 87 cents.

So what do you think? Would you ever pay to use Facebook? And is $5 too much? Let us know via our QuickPoll below, and share your thoughts in the comments.

Quick Poll

How much would you be willing to pay for a Facebook account?

$5

More than $5

Less than $5

I'd never pay for a Facebook account

VOTE

Share your vote on Facebook so your friends can take this poll

[Hat Tip: BuzzFeed]

Related on HuffPost:

Check out the most popular celebrities of Facebook.

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• 15: Avril Lavigne

  With about <strong>31,389,951</strong> likes on her Facebook Page, veteran punk girl <a href="https://www.facebook.com/avrillavigne" target="_hplink">Avril Lavigne</a> is number 15 on Facebook's most-liked users list.

• 14: Megan Fox

  Despite her <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/28/megan-fox-cosmopolitan-2012_n_1306500.html" target="_hplink">rumored bad attitude</a>, the feisty <a href="https://www.facebook.com/MeganFox" target="_hplink">Megan Fox</a> has barely made the top 15 of Facebook's most liked with around <strong>32,293,237</strong> likes on her Page.

• 13: Lionel Messi

  Argentinian soccer player <a href="https://www.facebook.com/LeoMessi" target="_hplink">Lionel (Leo) Messi</a> is the second most-liked athlete on the list, with approximately <strong>33,123,495</strong> likes on his Facebook Page.

• 12: Beyoncé

  R&B bombshell and new mom <a href="https://www.facebook.com/beyonce" target="_hplink">Beyoncé</a> has garnered about <strong>33,616,331</strong> likes on her blinged out Facebook Page.

• 11: Lil Wayne

  Shiny-toothed rapper <a href="https://www.facebook.com/LilWayne" target="_hplink">Lil Wayne</a> currently has about <strong>36,006,538</strong> likes on his Facebook Page.

• 10: Akon

  Senegalese R&B performer <a href="https://www.facebook.com/AKON" target="_hplink">Akon</a> rounds out the top ten of Facebook's most-liked users with about <strong>36,987,367</strong> likes.

• 9: Bob Marley

  Reggae musician <a href="https://www.facebook.com/BobMarley" target="_hplink">Bob Marley</a> is still sharing the love more than 30 years after his 1981 death through a Facebook Page made in his honor. So far, it's garnered about <strong>37,338,249</strong> likes.

• 8: Katy Perry

  The very popular pop singer <a href="https://www.facebook.com/katyperry" target="_hplink">Katy Perry</a> has about <strong>40,965,167</strong> likes on her Facebook Page -- that's nearly 40 million more than her ex-hubby's 1,459,435. Take that, <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/12/katy-perry-divorce-father-russell-brand_n_1338792.html" target="_hplink">Russell Brand</a>!

• 7: Cristiano Ronaldo

  A stud of a soccer player, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/Cristiano?ref=ts" target="_hplink">Cristiano Ronaldo</a> is the only non-musician within the top ten of Facebook's most liked -- his Page has about <strong>41,378,593</strong> likes.

• 6: Justin Bieber

  It's not very surprising that the baby-faced <a href="https://www.facebook.com/JustinBieber" target="_hplink">Justin Bieber</a> has made the top users list -- his Facebook Page has about <strong>41,375,097</strong> likes, probably just a fraction of his vast fanbase.

• 5: Michael Jackson

  The late King of Pop, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/michaeljackson" target="_hplink">Michael Jackson</a> is continuing to make an impact on Facebook with approximately <strong>46,650,509</strong> likes on his Page.

• 4: Shakira

  With around <strong>47,947,783</strong> Page likes, Colombian performer <a href="https://www.facebook.com/shakira" target="_hplink">Shakira</a> rolls in at number four.

• 3: Lady Gaga

  Earlier this month, <a href="http://mashable.com/2012/03/04/lady-gaga-20-million-twitter/" target="_hplink">Mashable reported</a> that the mega pop-star <a href="https://www.facebook.com/ladygaga" target="_hplink">Lady Gaga</a> shattered a Twitter record, becoming the first user to hit 20 million followers on the site. In the case of Facebook, Gaga rounds out the top three with about <strong>49,225,680</strong> likes on her Page.

• 2: Rihanna

  The talented, 24-year-old Barbadian singer <a href="https://www.facebook.com/rihanna" target="_hplink">Rihanna</a> comes in at number two on the list with about <strong>53,402,379</strong> likes on her Facebook Page.

• 1: Eminem

  That's right -- it's super-star rapper <a href="https://www.facebook.com/eminem" target="_hplink">Eminem</a> who tops the list of Facebook's most liked with approximately <strong>54,644,112</strong> likes on his Page.

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Comments

[sking007]

01:23 PM on 05/02/2012

I could care less about Facebook. There's a reason why we have long lost friends and relatives in the first place. You can read about it in my manifesto located behind my log cabin in an underground bunker.

[xxixpines]

11:46 AM on 04/27/2012

Facebook is not free.

The GDP or the General Dumb Public fails to realize that they are the product, loosing thier privacy in the prosscess of whoring themselves out in exchange for "free" service.

[xxixpines]

02:27 PM on 04/27/2012

losing even (for the spelling and typo freaks)

[arcanumseeker]

09:34 PM on 05/13/2013

I'm glad to see you found that other thread about using BOM play as a conversion tool. I sent you a post to tell you about it, but it got caught up. Then I went back to see if my post landed on the new one, nothing. I found your three, and another person posted in the Friend section, but not none of them are in the actual Comment sect. I commented when they were both blank and now the numbers are still 0 for both Comments and Pending. That thread is just as constipated as the other one is.

[arcanumseeker]

01:50 PM on 05/15/2013

Hey X! Yesterday I found Cantabmans blog but now it's gone or I just can't find it. My history wasn't on so, I'm kinda lost. As for Cornwall the only one I can find if Frugal Cornwall, could you tell me where else to look? I loved to learn about Him Christina and the Kids. lol Cantabman's blog was all porn right?

[beenzrgud]

08:30 AM on 04/27/2012

nada, zip, nought, zilch, squat, big fat nothing.

[Ichigo Kurosaki]

06:37 AM on 04/27/2012

If they went to pay-for-play model, I'd quit. UNLESS I saw not a single ad for anything. even THAT would be pushing it.

[savory1]

02:26 AM on 04/27/2012

Nada, zip, zilch, zero

[Hypnos Rises]

08:12 PM on 04/26/2012

I would be willing to pay the following amount. $0.00

[Taylan Demir]

07:31 PM on 04/26/2012

that's nice, but have a look here http://bit.ly/facebooktwitter-jobs

[Zilo]

08:21 AM on 04/27/2012

f.lagged for spamming

[Patricia Harlow]

05:49 PM on 04/26/2012

Facebook should be paying ME! :)

[Zilo]

08:22 AM on 04/27/2012

Considering they're mining information from you, yes.

[Larz99]

04:57 PM on 04/26/2012

I am not a member and never will be. In fact, I would pay to make sure my info and photos never end up on bigbrother.com. Oops I mean facebook.com...

[Warren Yuill]

02:43 PM on 04/26/2012

But its worth a hundred billion dollars HA HA HA

[PedroLeon]

12:42 PM on 04/26/2012

Never.

[jistinnkees]

11:23 AM on 04/26/2012

you paid the price of privacy.

[Connie997]

11:16 AM on 04/26/2012

no

[missellaneous02]

11:06 AM on 04/26/2012

I would never ever ever ever pay! I can't even beleive that anyone would (according to the poll)

[gravescanada]

11:01 AM on 04/26/2012

Not a damned penny.