Mums the word - Aus is a Facebook mothers' group that boasts over 24,000 members. Those thousands of Australian mums were taken aback today when the founder, Carly Abrahams, announced that people would now have to pay a one-off $10 membership fee to be in the group.
According to Kidspot, Carly posted a message describing her five years managing the group as an unpaid full-time job. The Sydney-based mum noted that implementing the membership fee was 'difficult decision' for her.
"The money will go into a business account which will distribute a small weekly salary to keep the group running," she assured Kidspot.
While, of course, single mum Carly needs revenue, some mothers from the group did not agree with her methods.
"I admire the admin for the work she does but she should have generated her income through advertising, not by charging people money for something they can get for free," one mum told Kidspot.
"This move will substantially reduce the member numbers and the value of the page is in its members."
Many mums scoffed at the idea of paying for a social media group, and a fair few have left the group in outrage.
One parent said, "Seeing as it has a large number of members, they should make them add more admins or moderators or both. I'm an admin of a group and I would never consider asking people to pay to be a member, ever!"
Carly, who also owns www.MumsPages.com.au, stands by her decision. She told Kidspot she deliberated over the move for months with members and business advisors.
"People don’t realise that a medical question can get us into a lot of trouble, or that a rant can kill a business... It’s a huge task to keep it relevant and fair. I haven’t made this decision lightly," she reiterated.
She says that the new fees won't bring her the $250,000 sum people have been throwing out there and that whatever she receives will not be spent anytime soon.
For the past two weeks, new members have been asked to pay a deposit before joining. Carly is still dealing with how much time to grant those who are already in the group but have not paid the fee yet.
While member numbers are dropping off in the wake of this news, there are also plenty of supporters who have paid their fees and are happy to do so.
One loyal mum told Kidspot, "I am more than happy to contribute and believe Carly's efforts need to be acknowledged."
What do you think, mums?
