Honestly: Would you use WhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook even if you had to pay for various features? Meta plans to develop more payment functions for the platforms in the future. So far, users only have to pay for very few options from the meta subsidiaries. However, this could now change. The group is now setting up a dedicated team to create solutions for the further development of the “paid features”. The “New Monetization Experiences” group is intended to provide Meta with new revenue options in addition to the thriving advertising business.
Paying money to send text messages or photos these days has become a rarity for most people, as messengers like WhatsApp have been offering free alternatives to SMS for several years. But now the operator Meta has announced that the most popular, free messenger will also receive paid functions in the future.
As The Verge reported on August 31, 2022, problems in the advertising business led to a lack of business results at Meta, the operator of popular platforms such as Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp. This is the reason why they are currently looking for alternatives to further monetize platform content. Meta recently founded its own department to deal with the problem. The name of the new business unit: “ New Monetization Experiences ”. Loosely translated, this means “ new monetization experiences ”.
According to an article by WABetaInfo from April 2022, work was already underway on a paid subscription model for WhatsApp, which is intended for WhatsApp Business accounts. It is intended to unlock additional features for business purposes.
The head of the department, John Hegeman, says that they are striving to expand the messenger's advertising business. In addition, there are already plans in place for users to have to pay money for certain functions of the WhatsApp platform in the future in order to be able to use them. However, Hegemann did not reveal exactly what functions these will be. On the other hand, he prefers to report on general “new types of products, functions and experiences” that are interesting enough that users would be happy to pay money for them.
Further details have not yet been made public.
It is also not yet clear when such a change will occur. Hegemann only said that the payment functions could make a difference in the use of WhatsApp within 5 years and that it was clear that users would not be asked to pay for hiding advertising.
WhatsApp subscription like Telegram?
The competitor Telegram also already has functions for which users have to pay money. There the whole thing is called the “premium variant” for which the costs are between €4.75 and €5.70 per month, depending on the country. The benefits of this “subscription” include sending much larger files, faster downloading of received files, and the ability to convert voice messages to text. The user can also send exclusive emojis, stickers and reactions and use animated profile pictures. (We reported HERE )
It remains to be seen whether similar features will also be available on WhatsApp for a fee.
Content monetization as a future model for meta?
In the short term, such monetization as is planned at WhatsApp will apparently not be part of the meta strategy, but “on the other hand, this offers opportunities to create both new value and significant sales, as well as a certain expansion of the offering “and that would of course be attractive ,” as Hegeman continues.
CEO Mark Zuckerberg also seems to not only be looking at the near future when it comes to payment systems. In June he commented on the monetization models already in place on Instagram and Facebook. He assured that Meta would not receive a share of these profits until 2024. However, he remains silent about the time that followed.
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Apart from that, it is already certain that Meta has strong market power, as they operate several popular messengers, among other things. Furthermore, it is not the only company that has launched payment functions on social media. Tiktok is also already testing paid subscriptions, while Twitter has super followers. Snapchat has also put certain functions behind the paywall.
If a subscription model for WhatsApp, in whatever form, were to be introduced, some users would probably look for alternatives.
Sources:
The Verge
WABetaInfo
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Author: Nick L.
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