Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp Could Soon Offer Paid Features

Meta has reportedly formed a group named "New Monetization Experiences."

Written by Nithya P Nair, Edited by Richa Sharma | Updated: 1 September 2022 11:52 IST

Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp Could Soon Offer Paid Features

Photo Credit: Meta

Meta's former head of research Pratiti RayChoudhury will lead the group

Highlights

Snapchat+ subscription can be purchased in India for Rs. 49 per month
Paid features could add a new source of income for Meta
Twitter Blue costs $3.99 (roughly Rs. 300) per month in the US

Meta could soon offer additional features for paid users. The social media giant is reportedly setting up a new product organisation to work on "possible paid features" for Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp. The unit is said to be led by Meta's former Head of Research, Pratiti RayChoudhury. Other competitors in the space including Snap, and Twitter already provide Snapchat+ and Twitter Blue paid services with several exclusive features for creators.

As per a report by The Verge, Meta is forming a new division named "New Monetization Experiences" to focus on paid features for Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp.

Meta's former Head of Research Pratiti RayChoudhury will lead the group, the report added citing an internal memo.

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The nature of paid features is unknown at this moment. The company is committed to growing the ads business and has no plans to let users pay to turn off ads, the report quoted John Hegeman, Meta's Head of ads and business products, as saying in an interview.

Snap, Twitter, and Meta Platforms earn a majority of their revenue from selling digital advertising. Paid features could add new non-advertising revenue for Meta. Snap and Twitter currently offer paid tiers to unlock additional features for users.

Twitter's subscription product Twitter Blue costs $4.99 (roughly Rs. 400) per month. Recently, the Snapchat+ subscription service was launched in India priced at Rs. 49 per month.

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Further reading: Meta, Meta Platforms, Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter, Snapchat

Nithya P Nair

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Nithya P Nair is a journalist with more than five years of experience in digital journalism. She specialises in business and technology beats. A foodie at heart, Nithya loves exploring new places (read cuisines) and sneaking in Malayalam movie dialogues to spice up conversations. More