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New Delhi: Meta announced that Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp will soon start offering paid subscription plans to boost the company’s monetization beyond ads.

Users will be offered subscription plans to access Instagram Plus, Facebook Plus and WhatsApp Plus. Meta confirmed that the plans will become available globally within the next few weeks and that all of the subscription services will remain optional.

The free editions of Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp will still be provided by the company. Currently, Instagram Plus and Facebook Plus subscription packages cost $3.99 per month and WhatsApp Plus may cost up to $2.99 ​​per month. The prices in India have not been disclosed.

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New user-oriented features

Meta introduced several new features that will become exclusive to the paid subscribers of Instagram Plus, Facebook Plus and WhatsApp Plus.

For example, Instagram Plus will include a possibility of extending your Stories and getting story insights, profile customizations, super reactions and more. Some media publications even claim that anonymous story viewing and audience control will be included among the Instagram Plus features.

Facebook Plus is expected to come with similar features focusing on improved content visibility and interactions with your followers. As for WhatsApp Plus, it will include custom themes, premium stickers, pinned chats and better conversation organization. Furthermore, Meta stated that sending messages and making calls on WhatsApp will continue to be absolutely free.

AI services subscription test

Apart from new social media subscription plans, Meta announced that users can start testing its AI service subscriptions dubbed ‘Meta One’.

According to reports, the company is testing two Meta One subscription models: Meta One Plus and Meta One Premium. These subscription plans will unlock higher usage limits when using AI to create images, videos, or chatbots.

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monetization shift

Digital advertising accounts for the lion’s share of Meta’s revenue sources. However, increased competition and growing costs for AI have forced tech companies to consider other monetization opportunities including subscription payments.

Many popular platforms, such as YouTube, Snapchat, and Industry analysts say Meta’s latest announcement indicates a shift towards subscription payments in the industry.