Why you could soon be paying to use Instagram

Instagram will soon begin testing a brand-new policy, with Australian users to notice the social media platform’s trialled changes within a matter of weeks.

Instagram content creators will be able to decide their own subscription rates for followers, with testing of the new policy to begin for select creators in the Australian market within the next few weeks.

Under the proposal, anyone who subscribes to a select creator’s account will have to pay a monthly fee to access that creator’s exclusive content, with creators able to set or change the price of their subscriptions, Meta has announced.

Instagram content creators will have the ability to set or change the price of their subscriptions, Meta has announced. Picture: Kirill Kudryavtsev / AFP

Instagram subscriptions will offer followers access to their favourite creators’ exclusive content by letting them stand out in comments, attend subscriber live events and watch subscriber stories and reels, among other benefits.

“Fostering meaningful connections with fans becomes harder as creators grow, so we are giving them the tools to own their own “space” (a “one stop shop”) with their most engaged followers within Instagram,” Meta said in a statement on Friday.

“(Creators) can share exclusive content and interact, all while earning predictable, recurring revenue.

“Earlier in the year in January, subscriptions were made available to an initial group of 10 US alpha creators,” the statement read.

A range of features available within Instagram Subscriptions includes a home for creators’ subscriber-only permanent content and creators being able to create stories, posts, reels and chats which are exclusive to subscribers. Picture: Kirill Kudryavtsev / AFP

“By June 2022, we reached 1000 monetising creators. In July, we rolled out phase two of subscriptions by adding subscriber chats, home, posts and reels to the existing subscription features.

“Now, we’re announcing open access in the US, and expanding via invite-only to more countries including Australia, UK and Canada,” the statement read.

According to Meta, creators’ earnings from subscribers will develop a recurring income, helping creators to plan ahead.

Another advantage is a promise of deeper interactions with the subscribers by rewarding and getting closer to the creators’ most loyal followers by offering exclusive content, experiences and more.

Subscribers can access a special subscriber badge showing up in feed comments next to the subscriber’s username, helping them stand out in the comments or DM requests and inbox when they send a message to the creator.

Creators can tap the “Filter” option in messages to prioritise replying to their subscribers.

A range of features available within Subscriptions includes a home for all of the creators’ subscriber-only permanent content, and creators being able to create stories, posts, reels and chats exclusive to subscribers.

Originally published as Why you could soon be paying to use Instagram