Facebook mulls virtual currency

Gareth Davis, Facebook's programme manager for games, said the social networking site is looking at adding virtual currency later this year.

Davis said the addition of currency would be a massive undertaking and would have to be done carefully.

Facebook boasts more than 5,000 games, with 11 million users playing the most poplar, Texas HoldEm Poker.

The site has offered virtual gifts since 2007. They are paid for with ‘credits' purchased on credit cards.

Facebook's virtual currency could work like Second Life's Linden Dollars, which allow users to purchase and sell virtual items and convert the profits back into real money.

In the past year, Facebook game developers have raised more than $75 million in venture capital funding.

Separately, Facebook is also promising to tweak its recent redesign by adding more filters to the news feed following complaints from users.

According to ComScore, Facebook is now the world's largest social networking site, with more than 175 million users. Last November, one in five internet users accessed Facebook.

This article was first published on revolutionmagazine.com