In efforts to keep Instagram relevant and trendy, the social media app has announced a new subscription feature to help creators earn a monthly income from their content.
Instagram, owned by Meta (previously named Facebook) announced the new monetisation feature, on Wednesday night.
In the statement announcing the feature, Meta said that it believed in enabling creators to make a living through its platforms and they’ve built a suite of tools that will assist creators in doing so.
The feature is called Instagram Subscriptions and allows followers to subscribe to the creator’s accounts for a monthly fee, giving them exclusive access to content and benefits within the platform.
Starting yesterday, Instagram has started to run test subscriptions with a few creators. The feature allows creators to set a monthly price of their choice, have a ‘subscribe’ button added to their profile and offer benefits to their subscribers.
The benefits include live videos and stories that will only be seen by their subscribers. Subscribers will also have a subscriber badge added to their comments, allowing creators to easily identify who their subscribers are.
American musician Melisa Rincón, also known as @bunnymichael to her followers, is one of the ten creators currently testing the subscription feature. Rincón told Instagram that she is a fan of the feature.
“Having subscriptions on Instagram makes building a more intimate relationship with my followers and fans possible.”
She added: “I am so excited to nurture those connections and make a lasting impact that will help keep my work sustainable.”
Meta announced that 100% of the income will go to creators and that it would not collect any fees until 2023 at the earliest.