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Instagram stories they turn ten years old soon and the company is preparing a novelty that could completely change this product. The format, popularized by Snapchat, has some basic “rules”, such as that they disappear after 24 hours and that we can know who has seen our story. Instagram suggests that we can bypass these and other rules if we pay a subscription. Instagram Plus. This is what this new subscription model will be called, as they say in TechCrunch. Meta is testing a paid subscription for Instagram that will allow users to enjoy a series of benefits over normal features. Currently, Instagram has the Meta Verified subscription option (to have the blue tick) aimed at creators, but this new subscription is aimed at normal users who want to have certain benefits. Meta’s goal with this move is to diversify Instagram’s sources of income, which mainly come from advertising. Functions for the stalking. In an email to TechCrunch, Meta has detailed what extra features will come with the subscription. It is striking that the majority of functions fuel, let’s say, unhealthy uses of the platform, just when Meta has been found guilty of having designed its products to generate addiction. The functions of Instagram Plus are as follows: View stories anonymously, without the person who posted them knowing. Know which people have viewed your story more than once. Search within the list of viewers, to find out if a specific person has seen your story without having to search the list Extend the length of stories for an additional 24 hours. Feature a story so it appears at the top of your followers’ stories carousel. Send animated “superlikes” to other stories. Create audience lists beyond “best friends.” Why it is important. Instagram openly recognizing that gossip and obsession with the metrics of your stories are behaviors widespread enough to monetize. But there is something that is also very important: being able to highlight stories so that they are seen more is a change in the rules of the game. These types of functions end up creating a distinction between users that affects not only the functionalities to which they have access, but also the visibility of their content. Why now. This is the next question to ask ourselves. Instagram is, along with Facebook, the social network that generates the most incomeso it’s not that you have a liquidity problem. However, right now Meta’s actions are not going through their best momentlargely due to the mistrust generated by the astronomical spending on infrastructure for AI. With 3 billion active usersInstagram Plus has the potential to boost revenue even more to face what is coming. TObackground. Instagram is following in the footsteps of other social networks that have opted for this type of subscriptions. We saw the case of the most aggressive subscription model with Twitter (now X), which after the acquisition by Elon Musk completely changed the meaning of the blue tick. Today, if you don’t pay you can’t send messages to any user, edit posts, create longer posts or access Grok. At the other extreme we have Snapchat+, which is a subscription that adds benefits without deteriorating the free experience. Among its features are being able to access experimental features first, more storage, and access to premium lenses. They launched it in 2022 and they have done quite well: Today it has 25 million subscribers and has generated 1 billion in revenue. Availability and price. At the moment, Instagram Plus is going to be tested in a limited number of countries. Meta hasn’t said which ones, but we know it has already appeared in Japan, the Philippines and Mexico. Regarding prices, according to some users have postedin Mexico it is 39 pesos per month, which at the current exchange rate is 1.88 euros. It is not clear in which other countries they will test it or when they plan to launch it globally. Image | Sanket Mishra, Pexels