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Meta launches Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp subscriptions

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Re: Meta launches Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp subscriptions

#201

Post by [deleted] »

pmontra wrote: post #190
the_af wrote: post #152

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Just stop using Meta products. It's really not as hard as it seems. Nobody needs FB to communicate with friends and family. Send texts or emails or use your phone. I'm in WhatsApp groups with friends who live abroad, SMS is not an option. We could use another chat app, but then I'd have to convince every friend from every group to use something else. WhatsApp is what every friend I have agrees on. I belong to sever…

All it would take is WhatsApp going paid plans only. All of Europe will switch to Telegram as primary messaging platform in a couple of days. Hence a paid only WhatsApp will never happen until every plausible alternative will be made impossible either by acquisition or by law.

[deleted]

Re: Meta launches Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp subscriptions

#202

Post by kps »

scns wrote: post #115
apsurd wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Heard it here on HN: problem is paying a subscription is purely additive. eventually, inevitably, they’ll take the subscription AND sell your data, serve you ads, etc. it being against what your payment contract states just means they’ll reinvent and rename the tiers.

> they’ll take the subscription AND sell your data, serve you ads Streaming services claiming prior art here.

Too young to remember cable TV?

Re: Meta launches Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp subscriptions

#203

Post by Yokohiii »

qqtt wrote: post #98

I'm going to go against the grain here and say this is probably a positive thing for Meta products, and honestly every other "free" service to provide these kinds of revenue avenues. How many times do we hear things like "if the product is free, you are the product" - well, the consequence of that is development resources tend to be pulled into directions that benefit advertisers. By having material subscription reve…

The only truth here is that meta is preparing for the AI bot apocalypse. When everything turns into AI noise, people will move on. Segmenting real (paying) users and bots is a strategy to sustain their business model, not welfare.

Re: Meta launches Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp subscriptions

#204

Post by avd201 »

apsurd wrote: post #112
qqtt wrote: post #98

I'm going to go against the grain here and say this is probably a positive thing for Meta products, and honestly every other "free" service to provide these kinds of revenue avenues. How many times do we hear things like "if the product is free, you are the product" - well, the consequence of that is development resources tend to be pulled into directions that benefit advertisers. By having material subscription reve…

Heard it here on HN: problem is paying a subscription is purely additive. eventually, inevitably, they’ll take the subscription AND sell your data, serve you ads, etc. it being against what your payment contract states just means they’ll reinvent and rename the tiers.

If you don't pay for a product, you are a less valuable product than if you'd pay for the product.

Re: Meta launches Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp subscriptions

#205

Post by okanat »

pmontra wrote: post #190
the_af wrote: post #152

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Just stop using Meta products. It's really not as hard as it seems. Nobody needs FB to communicate with friends and family. Send texts or emails or use your phone. I'm in WhatsApp groups with friends who live abroad, SMS is not an option. We could use another chat app, but then I'd have to convince every friend from every group to use something else. WhatsApp is what every friend I have agrees on. I belong to sever…

All it would take is WhatsApp going paid plans only. All of Europe will switch to Telegram as primary messaging platform in a couple of days. Hence a paid only WhatsApp will never happen until every plausible alternative will be made impossible either by acquisition or by law.

Whatsapp became successful by being cheaper than SMSes in Europe. But yeah people probably switch to the next convenient app.

Re: Meta launches Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp subscriptions

#206

Post by alex1138 »

embedding-shape wrote: post #122
ethanpil wrote: post #120

Anyone here remember the early days of WhatsApp, pre-Facebook, when it required an annual subscription fee of $1?

Remember clearly the first time that message popped up, asking for $1/year, and I think you could basically "skip for now" and then it'd pop back up again later again. I remember thinking how brilliant it was, just hitting 100K active users in a year would be $100K, more than enough for a person, and at their scale they'd make it work long-term. Then of course eventually the $20B purchase happened and it became a pro…

20 billion dollars to steal people's phone numbers

Anything Zuckerberg needs antitrust immediately

Re: Meta launches Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp subscriptions

#207

Post by pks016 »

pmontra wrote: post #183
qqtt wrote: post #98

I'm going to go against the grain here and say this is probably a positive thing for Meta products, and honestly every other "free" service to provide these kinds of revenue avenues. How many times do we hear things like "if the product is free, you are the product" - well, the consequence of that is development resources tend to be pulled into directions that benefit advertisers. By having material subscription reve…

Are there ads in WhatsApp? I never saw one. Facebook, I remember a lot of ads. Instagram, probably but I don't have an account there.

There are story ads now.

Re: Meta launches Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp subscriptions

#208

Post by bigmadshoe »

fragmede wrote: post #189
bigmadshoe wrote: post #182

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can actually look this information up! For example, Instagram makes approx $2-50 ad revenue per user per year, depending on the region. Apparently it’s highest in North America. So Of course this would get pretty expensive for all the services we use. But I personally would happily throw $100-$250 per year at my most used apps to stop being advertised to.

How's your YouTube Premium subscription?

I don’t watch enough YouTube to warrant that. My elderly father on the other hand, who watches several hours of YouTube per day on his television, finally got YouTube premium and has found it to be life changing. The TV YouTube app regularly shows 2+ minutes of unskipable adds per video.

Re: Meta launches Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp subscriptions

#209

Post by komali2 »

fragmede wrote: post #189
bigmadshoe wrote: post #182

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can actually look this information up! For example, Instagram makes approx $2-50 ad revenue per user per year, depending on the region. Apparently it’s highest in North America. So Of course this would get pretty expensive for all the services we use. But I personally would happily throw $100-$250 per year at my most used apps to stop being advertised to.

How's your YouTube Premium subscription?

That was a great deal when it came bundled with YouTube music. When they bizarrely tried to merge the two products so that when I was interested in watching videos, all I got was music video recommendations, it lost its lustre.

Now I would rather just pay for a couple Patreons. I heard there's some new pay to use YouTube thing out there that creators are pushing, I can't remember the name but I hopped on it and didn't see any extra content beyond what's offered on YouTube so I don't see the point.

Oh and before I got grayjay so I could have ad free casting of videos, premium was nice for when watching on the tv.

Re: Meta launches Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp subscriptions

#210

Post by AlotOfReading »

fragmede wrote: post #189
bigmadshoe wrote: post #182

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can actually look this information up! For example, Instagram makes approx $2-50 ad revenue per user per year, depending on the region. Apparently it’s highest in North America. So Of course this would get pretty expensive for all the services we use. But I personally would happily throw $100-$250 per year at my most used apps to stop being advertised to.

How's your YouTube Premium subscription?

Considering cancelling mine because they've introduced ads to it in the form of undismissable "purchase the product being discussed here" affiliate popups.
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