I honestly don't see any sort of paid service working Sheikh. I think what you've suggested above is much more likley as passing any cost on to the consumer will see a new service take it's place almost immediately. There are plenty of other sites waiting to pop and all it takes is a little disinterest with facebook for other sites to be noticed. I've been invited to beta test a site called Zurker, which essentially gives you shares in the company the more members you introduce. Novel idea but the interface is shocking.
I'm not so sure.
I think Facebook has reached a point - a critical mass - whereby its now accepted as a networking necessity that most people either have, or - at the very least - have heard of. They're a huge brand, spoken about with the same respect as that of Apple, Microsoft and Google. We're not talking early days, dog-eat-dog internet anymore - these sites are maturing into proper, well-known and well-used services and every move/change they make is heavily strategic.
We've got to a point now, where - okay you can decide to leave Facebook if you want - but you have so many connections on Facebook, that all you're actually doing, is merely ostracising yourself. Eventually, more than likely, you'll come back. And Facebook know this. Why? Because there isn't a viable alternative out there; no established networking site which will have all of your friends on it too. We're not talking supermarkets here: don't like Tesco? Cool, go shop in Sainsburys, Waitrose or M&S. At the moment, the only
real choice to receive this particular product, is Facebook.
Also, what would another site offer? Errrm, exactly the same. People are going to put a value on their time: can I really be bothered to join another smaller site, spend hours setting it up and maintaining it, and then hope all my other friends migrate across too? For the sake of a few quid, I think people would chose to avoid having to even worry about it. Anyone with half a brain would think ahead 'okay, so I don't like Facebook charging ... I could join this other free site but - guess what - they're probably gonna eventually charge too'. So, what do you do, just keep migrating around the internet like some kinda gypsy?
People just won't do it; they'll chose to stay with the most established, less hassle option: Facebook. Small charge to use? 'Okay, I'm fine with that and I justify it to myself as being a service which I recieve and I'd miss were I without it'. People happily pay penny charges for applications on their smartphones, and it's because they find it comfortable paying for that particular service. Okay, you could argue that there's a choice in that, and people like having a choice - I agree; no-likes like being forces to pay anything (Licence Fee, exhibit 1!) But the choice here, is do you stay with Facebook for a small charge or leave it and lose all your buddies?
Google - a massive 'blue-chip' technology company - have tried to grow an alternative with their G+ platform. But it's not really taking off at all. And this is with a team of worldclass programmers, marketers and strategists weighted behind it. It's because that boat has already sailed: it's Facebook for social networking, and the rest are simply going to be tinkling in the wind. Facebook is now a bone fide service and, in time, one that people will find no problem paying to receive.
