Instagram has added new in-app subscriptions and badges on its App Store listing which means that the social media giant is about to launch new ways for creators to earn a living via its platform. Spotted by Sensor Tower and Apptopia, and reported by TechCrunch, the new Instagram Subscriptions prices range from $0.99 – $4.99 were first added on App Store listing in the U.S and later were also spotted on U.K. App Store listing.
Instagram has been making changes to encourage more engagement on the platform. Recently, the app added the ability to upload photos and videos from the web, add music to their Reels, and introduced “Collabs” for creators to co-author their Feed and Reels by inviting another account creator or holder for a collaboration which shows the uploaded content on both account holders’ feed.
New “Instagram Subscriptions” will attract creators to stay on the platform in opposed to competing apps like TikTok and Snapchat
In June, Head of Instagram Adam Mosseri announced that new changes will be coming to the app in the next six to twelve months in four areas: creators, shopping, videos, and recommendations to compete with “really serious competition. TikTok is huge, YouTube is even bigger, and there are lots of different upstarts as well.”
And the upcoming Subscriptions will allow creators to earn a living on the platform. As per the report, users will be able to become patrons to support their favorite creators and purchase badges that will be used during live sessions on the app. It is another effort by the company to become a more creator-friendly platform. Earlier it was discovered that the social media company will add a new “Exclusive Stories” feature.
With subscriptions, the idea is that fans could pay a small, ongoing fee for exclusive access to content from their favorite creators.
The company this summer also was spotted building one potential feature for this coming service, “Exclusive Stories.” This feature would offer paying fans access to Stories that weren’t available to the general public and couldn’t be screenshot, but could be featured as “Highlights” that appeared once a member was subscribed, according to reverse engineer Alessandro Paluzzi, who discovered the work in progress. He also revealed that subscribers would get a special member badge and would gain access to exclusive live videos, based on internal developments he uncovered in the Instagram app.
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