If you make a lot of money as a company from advertisement already, your next question as a company should not only be how to expand that revenue, but to find outer ways to complement it.
That’s what Google, Microsoft and co. are doing already. Meta, parent company of Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp, is now joining the party. New subscriptions are available for all products that, in some cases, replicate what X did with its premium subscriptions: it gives subscribers an advantage over those who are not.
First, here is the overview:
Consumer “Plus” Subscriptions
These plans are targeted at everyday users who want more personalization and control over their social media experience
- WhatsApp Plus – $2.99 per month – chat organization and interface personalization
- Instagram Plus – $3.99 per month – advanced story controls and profile customization
- Facebook Plus – $3.99 per month — enhanced social tools and profile personalization
Key Advantages
- WhatsApp Plus: Upgrades the messaging experience with custom app themes, personalized ringtones, the ability to pin additional chats, and access to exclusive premium stickers.
- Instagram Plus: Transforms how users interact with Stories by allowing them to preview others’ stories anonymously, see who rewatched their own stories, and keep stories active beyond the standard 24-hour limit. It also includes “Super Heart” reactions, custom app icons, and profile pins.
- Facebook Plus: Mirrors the social and personalization upgrades seen on Instagram, offering enhanced story features, super reactions, and expanded profile customization options.
Then there is Meta One, which are structured around heavy AI usage and brand growth. Plans start at $7.99 per month and go all the way up to $49.99 per month.
Especially the Essential and Advanced tiers are of interested to creators and businesses:
- Meta One Essential: Replaces and expands upon the standard Meta Verified offering. It provides a blue Verified badge, proactive impersonation protection, priority customer support, and enhanced link sheets to consolidate an online presence
- Meta One Advanced: Functions as a growth and management engine. It guarantees higher visibility in Facebook feeds and search results, adds prominent “Follow” buttons on Reels, and automates follow invitations. It also grants access to advanced audience insights, automated scheduling, and allows moderators to manage accounts without needing to share passwords.
These grant higher visibility, which gives subscribers an advantage over anyone who is not subscribed already. Whether that is worth the extra $50 per month needs to be tested, but it could force the hand of many creators on Instagram or Facebook who want to grow their audience.
One question that may come to mind is this: when is the tipping point reached? Subscriptions work, but only that many are sustainable. With more and more companies jumping on the bandwagon, it is only a matter of time before fatigue kicks in or money runs out. What is the plan then?
@Martin – Help?
Firefox no longer updates. I’m getting the popup “update available” every morning, I click “Download” it opens a new browser tab to this page.
https://www.firefox.com/en-US/browsers/enterprise/?redirect_source=mozilla-org&reason=manual-update
140.11.0 esr
I can’t ask Mozilla for help without creating an account I don’t want.
Do you run the ESR version? What happens when you download and install the update?
I update manually, Firefox as its extensions.
Nevertheless you may have a look at these prefs and check if they have their default values:
// At startup, check to see if the installation date is older than some threshold
pref(“app.update.checkInstallTime”, true);
// enable BITS for updates (never knew what it corresponds to)
pref(“app.update.BITS.enabled”, true);
// enable background update service (the most important)
pref(“app.update.service.enabled”, true);
Otherwise, as Martin wrote it, try install the update manually; you must know where to get it:
[https://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/firefox/releases/]
Gee, reminds me the good old days where we’d share hints on Ghacks (The original) 🙂
GAFAM blocked to the maximum extent, social networks as well. Especially Meta, known for its networks to be the leader of the band in terms of tracking. Moreover looks like some of us actually pay to get tracked, pay more and more. That’s addiction. Alternatives exist, even if you absolutely need a social network, you’ve got a few healthy places if you really need to let the world you know all about what others ignore regarding politics, geopolitics, medicine, all sciences, all about art, philosophy, psychology, sociology, anthropology and you name it, yet, because speaking not your truth but *the truth* may seem slightly pretentious, you are sufficiently tactful to hide your universal knowledge behind a pseudonym. Pathetic.
Don’t give a dime to those rascals. Don’t even visit them when services are “pseudo-free”. Pass your way, discover / rediscover your physical environments, real life, real people, real friendship, forget AI, have a look at the skies and the stars, flowers and nature. Breath. Good luck.
All this makes me glad I’m old and don’t give a **** about social media. Hell of a world we’ve built for the young’uns.