So here we are again, watching Meta tinker with the fundamentals of what made social media “social” in the first place. This time, the experiment involves something so essential to the very fabric of the internet that you’d think it would be untouchable: the humble hyperlink.

According to a test carried out last week, Meta is limiting users with professional accounts and Facebook Pages to just two link posts; unless, of course, they fork out over $14.99 per month for a Meta Verified subscription. 

The test affects professional mode users and Facebook Pages, precisely the people who rely on link sharing to drive traffic to their websites, blogs, newsletters, and online stores. However, affiliate links are exempt from the limit. The incentive structure here isn’t exactly subtle.

This test is part of a larger pattern we’ve been watching unfold across social platforms. X has experimented with demoting posts containing external links, while TikTok and Instagram have long pushed native content over anything that might send users elsewhere. The pattern is clear: platforms want you to stay in their ecosystem, consuming their ads, generating their data, and never, ever leaving.

The bitter irony here is that Meta has spent years courting creators, offering them monetization tools, building dedicated features, and promising that Facebook is a place where they can build sustainable businesses. There’s another subplot here that Meta isn’t saying out loud: the AI web is coming, and it has very different economics than the link-based web. As AI summaries and search increasingly answer questions without requiring users to click through to source material, website publishers are watching their traffic evaporate.

Social platforms see this shift and are making calculated bets. If AI is going to kill the click-through rate anyway, why not accelerate the transition to a native content-only world? Why not train users now that links are optional, premium features rather than the connective tissue of online discourse?

Whether Meta’s link tax sticks or the limit is relaxed, welcome to Web 2.5: All the centralization of Web 2.0, now with premium tiers.

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