Instagram has begun testing a subscription feature in the US that will allow users to access exclusive content from bloggers and some advanced features. The company announced this on its blog on January 19.
The pilot group of accounts included ten influencers, including basketball player Sedona Prince, astrologer Aliza Kelly, and gymnast Jordan Chiles. Subscrube button appeared in their profile (“subscribe”). By clicking on it, subscribers for a monthly fee will be able to view live streams and stories available only to them. These followers will have a purple badge next to their username, which will make them stand out among comments and messages from other users.
The head of the social network, Adam Mosseri, called paid subscriptions one of the best ways to provide a “predictable” source of income for content creators. He added that in the future this functionality is planned to be expanded so that it is fully integrated into the user experience. So, in the future, authors will be able to transfer their subscriber lists to other sites and platforms.
The paid subscriptions feature was announced in November last year. Subscription prices range from $0.99 to $4.99. In the Russian version of the application, it is 99 rubles.
Facebook also offers a monthly paid subscription to your favorite authors from 2020. Last June, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg announced that the company would not withhold commissions from such subscriptions until 2023. This decision will also affect paid followers on Instagram. The amount of the commission was not specified, however, according to Zuckerberg, it will be less than the 30% that Apple charges.
In September, a similar paid subscription called Super Follows was announced by Twitter, and Youtube is already offering users to “sponsor” channels to receive additional bonuses in the form of author’s emojis and badges.