this post was submitted on 27 Jan 2026
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257
Meta's latest subscription move is an attempt to offset its AI bets (appleinsider.com)
submitted 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) by tonytins@pawb.social to c/technology@lemmy.world
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On January 26, Meta announced that it was going to test premium subscriptions across its apps. The subscriptions will offer exclusive features and expanded AI tools, while ad-supported versions remain free.

Under the test, users are presented with a clear choice between two paths. People can subscribe to use Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp without ads, or continue using the services for free while agreeing to ongoing data use for advertising purposes.

Meta claims the subscriptions will "unlock productivity, creativity, and AI-powered features," with each app receiving its own set of paid tools rather than a single bundled plan. The company isn't committing to one configuration and plans in order to experiment with different feature sets and pricing models over time.

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[–] xcjs@programming.dev -1 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (1 children)

Honestly, if this reduces user-hostile UI changes for paid accounts, and I can get a chronological feed of just friend activity with original content, I'd pay it at this point.

(I know there is supposed to be a friends-only feed now, but it's not even close to being friends-only still.)

It's a big if, and I don't think it will be what I want, but I'm just putting it out there that I would pay if the experience is valuable enough.

[–] deltaspawn0040@lemmy.zip 9 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Seriously? You're gonna pay money to this guy?

[–] xcjs@programming.dev -3 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (2 children)

I mean, do I want to give money to a billionaire? Not exactly.

On the other hand, if we don't start supporting premium software services and open source projects, the enshitiffication trend will get worse.

(I know Facebook isn't open source, but I've seen enough open source projects abandoned or enshittified due to lack of support from users.)

I have to choose among my principles, and I'm strongly against user-hostile UI/UX paradigms, enshittification, and other downward quality trends in software/services.

I pay to support my Lemmy instance, for example.

[–] deltaspawn0040@lemmy.zip 2 points 3 days ago (1 children)

They're actively doing enshittifying, though. How are they supposed to know what you're rewarding them for?

[–] xcjs@programming.dev 1 points 3 days ago

If it's anything less than I want, I won't be rewarding them at all.

[–] xcjs@programming.dev 1 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

Replying to myself to follow-up.

Listen, I know it's not a popular take, but software projects and services of any size require a sizable amount of effort and time - these projects are vulnerable to acquisition, abandonment, commercialization, and enshittification without support.

  • Linux wouldn't exist as it does without the large amounts of commercial funding it receives because it just so happens to be useful for enterprises and cloud services.
  • Firefox was the shining jewel of the open source community, but even they're struggling with public perception issues and staying true to their original mission.
  • Plex has been under criticism for the last year over various UI/UX concerns and have had developer layoffs as recently as this month.
  • The Affinity series of products have been replaced with a free version that requires a Canva account and will probably become more enshittified as time goes on.
  • How many social media services have come and gone or have had increasing user dissatisfaction as time went on due to enshittification and waning financial stability? Tumblr, Twitter, MySpace, YouTube, Flickr, Facebook, Instagram, and more. The newest bastion is BlueSky, but I guarantee it's just going to become the next Twitter in enough time.
  • Don't get me started on Windows 11.

I'm on Facebook because of the network effect, and if there was a way to encourage it to become a better service, the pricing is reasonable, and if I get what I want - yeah, I'd pay it.

And I'm not speaking from lack of experience - I offered my own social media service for a time that offered privacy and extra storage for a price. Not one user paid, and I had to cancel the project after losing money. Good intentions alone get you nowhere.