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Meta launches Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp subscriptions

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Re: Meta launches Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp subscriptions

#31

Post by shevy-java »

alex1138 wrote: post #20
avaer wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"They 'trust me'. Dumb fucks." - Mark Zuckerberg

Followed by him overwriting people's email addresses and constantly fucking around with privacy settings Ohhhh but he was young! Be easy on him (/s)

Not only that, but Spybook aka Facebook, also connected offline information, e. g. I think if I recall it was dental care or something like that. I don't remember the year (edit: a google search led me to this article from 2018, but I could swear this was several years before that - see https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-43668607), but it was scary that they go and sniff for ALL data they can find about people. This brings mega-corporation to a new level of Evil. And I haven't even gotten to talk about Google here, yet ...

Re: Meta launches Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp subscriptions

#32

Post by shevy-java »

princevegeta89 wrote: post #22

Interesting. Instagram and Facebook both seem to be filled with AI-generated fake crap today. Even the so-called news items that I see there seem to be fake. I don't even know who would be subscribing. Especially to Facebook as of today.... It is filled with pretty low quality content overall. On the other side, WhatsApp has been getting filled with a lot of bloat. And even today, I find it confusing to use communiti…

> Instagram and Facebook both seem to be filled with AI-generated fake crap today.

Also youtube, unfortunately. Google does not understand that AI is slowly killing youtube.

I am an expert cat video person, so noticing AI slop is not so hard, but it takes a few seconds (e. g. a mother cat punishing the young cat for "overreach" - the way how the AI video insinuated reality was of course completely false, AI spam slop that lies to real humans). I'd rather wish Google would not waste my time (then again, why am I still using youtube ... one day I'll be degoogled for good. The sooner Google is gone from this planet, the better.)

Re: Meta launches Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp subscriptions

#33

Post by pj_mukh »

jsrozner wrote: post #25
pj_mukh wrote: post #11

I would pay $49.99/mo for an unlimited plan that brings me only my friends' status updates (not their hyper-political likes and comments), just their life updates. Daily stories are great too. But JUST that, no influencers, no ads. I realize Meta's data shows that our user revealed preferences tells them that we like all the dopamine hijacking garbage but that's like saying "Well users like drugs, so we gave them mor…

This is absurd. You're just asking for reasonable control over data that ostensibly belongs to you. Moreover, this minimum functionality was resolved years ago with RSS. That you'd be willing to pay so much reflects how well every tech company is doing at using tech against its own users.

Ehhh, what I'm paying for is FB/Insta's ability to bring everyone onto one platform and encourage them to post regularly. RSS, AOL Messenger etc, never were able to do that with any decent success.

That they went past that to just kill their own golden goose is what is now reversible via a payment plan. That might be their only saving grace on this now managed decline.

Re: Meta launches Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp subscriptions

#34

Post by bflesch »

pj_mukh wrote: post #11

I would pay $49.99/mo for an unlimited plan that brings me only my friends' status updates (not their hyper-political likes and comments), just their life updates. Daily stories are great too. But JUST that, no influencers, no ads. I realize Meta's data shows that our user revealed preferences tells them that we like all the dopamine hijacking garbage but that's like saying "Well users like drugs, so we gave them mor…

Nah once they know you can be fleeced for $50 per month, they also know there is much more money to extract from you. Their advertisers would be mad if they remove this juicy cohort of moneybags from their audience.

Re: Meta launches Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp subscriptions

#35

Post by sillysaurusx »

YesBox wrote: post #6

Discord subscriptions seem to be working. People like to customize their profile (ie express themselves), even though profiles are not something frequently interacted with (that's the surprising part!) I have a server (for my game) with about 1000 people. Out of the 300 people logged in, 50 of them have custom profiles. So, it seems like a good idea for Meta.

How’d you make a game with 1,000 people? It’s impressive.

Re: Meta launches Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp subscriptions

#36

Post by fontain »

iLoveOncall wrote: post #17

It's insane that those subscriptions don't remove ads. That's the only thing I would even remotely consider paying for on any meta product. In the current state those subscriptions will just show your friends that you're a huge loser who's willing to pay for custom backgrounds.

Unfortunately, Meta’s ad business is so effective that they would need to charge hundreds of dollars per year for an ad free service just to keep revenue stable. I suspect anything less than $25 per month would be loss making for them.

Re: Meta launches Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp subscriptions

#37

Post by rhines »

fontain wrote: post #23
YesBox wrote: post #6

Discord subscriptions seem to be working. People like to customize their profile (ie express themselves), even though profiles are not something frequently interacted with (that's the surprising part!) I have a server (for my game) with about 1000 people. Out of the 300 people logged in, 50 of them have custom profiles. So, it seems like a good idea for Meta.

The main problem is that premium subscriptions don’t generate that much revenue when compared to ads alone. The users who pay are the most valuable users to advertisers and the users who don’t pay are the least valuable. Discord generates about $1 in revenue per user compared to Facebook at closer to $100. For Discord at $1 per user, any subscription that’s a few dollars or more is probably paying for the lost advert…

I wish these companies didn't need to make billions in revenue. There's no reason why a small company couldn't manage a site like Discord, make enough to pay their developers, and be successful. But instead every company needs to become a unicorn and pay investors billions.

Re: Meta launches Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp subscriptions

#38

Post by dreamcompiler »

fsflover wrote: post #29
tim-projects wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Pay each of your friends $50 one per month, to switch to signal. Problem solved

Or, better, Mastodon or Matrix, which don't rely on a single, easy-to-target server.

This works for friends and family members who are computer geeks. Signal for everybody else.

Re: Meta launches Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp subscriptions

#40

Post by lostlogin »

freedomben wrote: post #27
tim-projects wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Pay each of your friends $50 one per month, to switch to signal. Problem solved

$50 per month for unlimited, not $50 per friend, so your solution only works if you only have 1 friend, so it would work for me (self-deprecating joke) but may not for GP.

> Pay each of your friends $50 one per month

It an outlay of $50 a moth. Probably better to pay 50/number of friends though.

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