• by Gavin O'Malley , Staff Writer @mp_gavin, September 16, 2015

Often, something’s popularity only illustrates how little I understand people and their behavior. From grown men devoting their free time and money to video games and fantasy sports -- to certain presidential candidates -- what passes for popular is increasingly beyond me.

I say that only to hedge my criticism of Snapchat’s latest money-making endeavor.

The social maverick has decided to charge users a dollar -- 99 cents, to be exact -- for the privilege of replaying messages three times.

Yes, the company that rose to popularity on the premise that messages from friends could only be viewed once -- because, well, it said so -- is betting that users will pay for access to additional views.

Talking about creating artificial scarcity!

I mean, no one charges for content on social media: not Facebook, not Twitter, not anyone. And the content in question isn’t even “premium" -- that which comes from professional, expense-ridden production companies.

We’re talking about charging real money for user-generated content. Who does that?!

Snapchat, apparently. Announcing the change on its official blog, the “Snapchat Team” said of replays: “They’re a little pricey -- but time is money! ;)”

Ha! Yes! Winky face! Get ready to pay up, suckers! Pay up for content that your own friends created for nothing, and would most likely be happy to send you over the countless other digital channels at their disposal.

Based on my success judging people's preferences and inclinations, Snapchat users will probably do just that.