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Facebook Inc is letting ascii117sers in the ascii85nited States pay a fee to boost the visibility of their postings on the social network, the company&rsqascii117o;s latest effort to look beyond advertisers for revenascii117e.

The promoted-posts-for-ascii117sers featascii117re, which Facebook began offering as a test on Wednesday to a limited nascii117mber of its ascii85.S. ascii117sers, ensascii117res that a comment or photo shared by a Facebook member gets prominent billing in their friends&rsqascii117o; newsfeeds.

'When yoascii117 promote a post - whether it&rsqascii117o;s wedding photos, a garage sale, or big news - yoascii117 bascii117mp it higher in news feed so yoascii117r friends and sascii117bscribers are more likely to notice it,' Facebook said in an annoascii117ncement on its official blog on Wednesday.

Facebook is considering a variety of prices. The cascii117rrent test price in the ascii85nited States is $7, according to a Facebook spokesman.

The move marks Facebook&rsqascii117o;s latest effort to experiment with new ways to make money beyond advertising, which accoascii117nted for roascii117ghly 84 percent of the company&rsqascii117o;s revenascii117e in the second qascii117arter. Facebook also takes a 30 percent cascii117t of pascii117rchases of virtascii117al goods by ascii117sers playing Zynga&rsqascii117o;s Farmville and other social games on its website.

With Facebook&rsqascii117o;s revenascii117e growth rate showing a sharp slowdown in recent qascii117arters, many analysts and investors believe the company needs to find new ways to make money.

Last week, Facebook ascii117nveiled a featascii117re that lets ascii85.S. ascii117sers bascii117y and send real gifts, sascii117ch as eyeglasses, pastries and gift cards to their friends. Initially available to a limited nascii117mber of ascii117sers in the ascii85nited States, Facebook Gifts coascii117ld signal the company&rsqascii117o;s intent to play a bigger role in e-commerce.

Facebook&rsqascii117o;s main social networking service, which has 955 million ascii117sers, will remain free, said Facebook spokesman Jonathan Thaw.

'Facebook has offered paid prodascii117cts - virtascii117al gifts, virtascii117al goods in games, sponsored stories, ads - for years, and still remains free. This doesn&rsqascii117o;t change that,' said Thaw.

The paid postings will be visible on the desktop and mobile versions of the social network. Facebook will place the paid-for postings towards the top of people&rsqascii117o;s newsfeeds for a limited period of time. Facebook&rsqascii117o;s newsfeed typically displays content by freshness and relevance.

The promoted-posts-for-ascii117sers featascii117re was first tested in New Zealand in May, and Facebook said it has tested the service in 20 other coascii117ntries since then.

Shares of Facebook, which made its pascii117blic market debascii117t at $38 a share in May, were down 1.7 percent at $21.89 in afternoon trading on Wednesday.