Washington: Meta has suddenly decided to charge for the use of its famous social networks Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp.
Naomi Gleit, the head of product at Meta, has officially announced the new “Plus” subscription plans globally. Accordingly, the subscription prices are as follows
Instagram Plus: Around $3.99 (around ₹377) per month
Facebook Plus: Around $3.99 (around ₹377) per month
WhatsApp Plus: Around $2.99 (around ₹282) per month
Your current regular Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp apps will remain free as usual. Like in X, these plans are optional plans that are only for those who want to use some special and premium features.
What are the main reasons why Meta is suddenly charging money?
Meta is investing $125 billion to $145 billion (over ₹10 lakh crore) this year alone in its AI data centers and infrastructure to stay ahead of the race in artificial intelligence technology. The company needs new sources of revenue to cover this huge expenditure.
For so many years, Meta used to earn more than 90% of its money through ads alone. But now, to protect itself from market fluctuations, it is switching to a subscription model that receives direct revenue from users.
Investor pressure may also be a reason for Meta’s decision. Investors have questioned Meta’s investment in AI technology. Meta has taken this path to show how it will immediately generate income from that investment.
What will paying Instagram and Facebook “Plus” users get?
Instagram and Facebook Plus have a story rewatch feature. You can see the statistics of whether someone has watched your Instagram story again and again.
You can preview other people’s stories in Stealth Mode without them knowing (so that your name does not appear in the viewer list).
Stories that usually disappear after 24 hours can be kept for a longer time.
You can make your profile reach more people by highlighting a specific story once a week.
What’s special for WhatsApp Plus users?
WhatsApp can be customized. You can change the app icon, have premium chat themes, and custom ringtones. There is a facility to pin premium stickers and additional chats, especially.
‘Meta One’ and Advanced AI Plans
The company plans to bring all these different subscriptions together under a single brand called ‘Meta One’ in the future. In addition, separate premium AI plans for those who use Meta AI heavily, which will offer advanced image/video generation and complex question answering, will be introduced, priced from $7.99 to $19.99 per month, the report said.