Instagram subscription revolution: Secret paid features revealed for the first time

The features that until now were just a dream: Instagram is testing a new subscription service called Instagram Plus, which may change the way users consume and manage content on the platform. According to reports and user testimonials, the service is already being tested in several countries, including the Philippines and Mexico, and offers a series of advanced capabilities that are not currently available to regular users.

The center of the new service focuses on the stories format, one of the most popular tools in the app. Among the options being examined is the extension of the historical time beyond 24 hours, a change that may significantly affect the patterns of use of the platform. Alongside this, subscribers will be able to create different audience groups for each story, so that the content will be more precisely tailored to different groups of followers.

Another feature that attracts attention is the possibility to watch other people’s stories without appearing in the viewer list. This is a change that may undermine one of the basic characteristics of the platform, transparency in viewing content. At the same time, the service also offers more advanced data to content creators, such as information about who has rewatched a story, a search within the list of viewers, as well as the option to highlight certain stories using a dedicated tool called “Spotlight”.

Meanwhile, the service also includes new means of interaction such as “Super Hearts” type responses, which aim to deepen the involvement between users and creators. Along with these features, the possibility of previewing a story before full viewing is also being tested, allowing users more control over how they consume content.

Meta confirmed that this is only a limited trial, and that the service is not available to all users at this stage. The company stated that the goal is to understand which features are considered highly valuable for users within a premium service.

The price, at least in the testing phase, is relatively low. In the Philippines the payment is about 65 pesos a month, which is a little more than one dollar, and in Mexico about 39 pesos, which is about 2 dollars. New users are also given a one-month free trial, suggesting an attempt to encourage widespread adoption of the service.

Meta’s move doesn’t happen in a vacuum. The Snapchat+ service launched in 2022 has already managed to accumulate millions of subscribers and has become a significant source of income for the company behind Snapchat. Now it appears that Meta is seeking to adopt a similar model, expanding its sources of income beyond advertising, an area in which it has dominated for many years.

At the same time, the company has already started promoting additional subscription services, including Meta Verified, and even recently tried to offer discounted packages with trial periods at extremely low prices. These steps point to a broader strategy of moving to paid services, including AI-based features that are currently being tested.

Despite the economic potential, it is not clear how users will react to a model where some capabilities become the property of subscribers only. Such a change may provoke criticism, especially if it is perceived as harming the basic user experience or creating gaps between users.