Could your favorite Facebook Groups soon come with a fee?June 21 (AZINS) It could be that popular Facebook groups will start asking for your credit card details as admins ask for investment in order to continue their efforts. Most active Facebook users are members of a group of some sort, whether it be for hobbies, interests or motivation. And for every group, there's an admin, or admins, who work behind the scenes to approve members, oversee content and even in some cases share wisdom. This has been mostly voluntary, however that could change with a new payment tool.

Facebook has announced that starting from this week, it is piloting subscriptions for groups, starting with a few select communities. The social network says that admins who invest a lot of their time and energy to maintain these groups requested “tools to help them continue to invest in their community and offer more to members.”

The program is designed especially for those providing their expertise, which they would usually charge for, or for groups that have become so large that they are very time consuming. As the announcement points out, many admins are already collecting payments from group members outside of the Facebook, so by allowing subscriptions to be managed directly though the Facebook app for iOS and Android, it aims to make it easier and more time efficient. It may also keep influential admins from going to other platforms.

This is not unlike the “New Tools and Experiences for Creators” rolled out in March of this year in what appears to be an attempt to allow influencers to profit from branding deals as well as offer fans the chance to support content creators with a monthly payment. Diehard followers could get a badge “highlighting their status as a supporter” and potentially some exclusive content.  As for brands, they could take advantage of ‘Ad Breaks', which was recently made available to a group of creators producing shows for Watch, Facebook's video-on-demand service.

The groups that have been selected to trial the new subscription tool include Organize My Home (actionable checklists, tutorials, live videos and more to help with home organization), Grown and Flown Parents: College Admissions and Affordability (college preparation group), Meal Planning Central Premium (meal preparation group with weekly lists and meal plans) among others.