By
staff writer
April 17th, 2024
The potential move to introduce paid features on the Meta Platforms app family is not a new trend in the social media ecosystem.
American multinational social messaging and metaverse-focused tech giant Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ: META) is on track to introduce paid features across its flagship social media platforms. As reported by The Verge, the paid features will cut across Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp as the firm is making a targeted attempt to shore up its revenue base amidst dwindling ad earnings.
The plans to explore paid features on its family of apps became necessary as revenues from ads, the most robust avenue through which the firm makes money has been grossly impacted by the release of new privacy policies by Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL). Besides the restricting ad tracking features that were introduced into iOS-enabled devices, general ad spending has been tapered down across the board.
The new paid features were christened in the New Monetization Experiences. The newly spun offshoot will be led by Pratiti Raychoudhury, who was previously Meta’s head of research.
John Hegeman, the VP of monetization at Meta Platforms confirmed the report, and as an overseer of the group, shared some thoughts in an interview with The Verge. According to Hegeman, the proposed introduction of a paid feature does not imply Meta has plans to force the changes on its users or to enforce paying in order to turn off ads on their feeds.
“I think we do see opportunities to build new types of products, features, and experiences that people would be willing to pay for and be excited to pay for,” he said
While downplaying the chances that paid features will be central to Meta Platforms’ business model in the near term, he advocates staying open-minded as the move may turn out to add more targeted value in the long run.
“On the flip side, I think if there are opportunities to both create new value and meaningful revenue lines and also provide some diversification, that’s obviously going to be something that will be appealing,” he said, adding that in the long term or “On a five-year time horizon I do think it can really move the needle and make a pretty significant difference.”
Meta Platforms Paid Features: A Social Media Trend
The potential move to introduce a paid feature on the Meta Platforms app family is not a new trend in the social media ecosystem.
Other major competitors have either introduced a new paid feature or are in the process of churning out one. While Snapchat from Snap Inc (NYSE: SNAP) recorded a massive hit with its paid subscription that grants access to additional features, other platforms like TikTok, Twitter Inc (NYSE: TWTR), and Telegram have all also unveiled their paid plans.
“We’re obviously paying attention to what’s going on in the industry,” said Hegeman. “And I think there are multiple companies that have done interesting things in this space that I think hopefully we can learn from and emulate over time.”