There’s a chance that anonymous Instagram accounts are peeking at your Stories right now.
Meta, which owns the social media platform as well as Facebook, has begun testing a premium Instagram subscription.
One of the perks of ‘Instagram Plus’ is being able to see everyone’s Instagram Stories, 24-hour-only disappearing photo and video posts.
The poster would have no idea this premium user is lurking in their Stories.
What is ‘Instagram Plus’?
Subscribers will be able to have unlimited audience lists. In other words, a paying user could share Stories with specific groups of people, rather than everyone or their Close Friends.
Social media consultant Matt Navarra shared a sneek peak of Instagram Plus on Threads, also owned by Meta, yesterday.
Some of the extra features will include:
- Extending your Story for an extra 24 hours and spotlighting one once per week
- ‘Superliking’ other users’ content, a more vibrant looking heart, apparently
- Seeing how many people have rewatched your Story
- Previewing a Story without showing up as a viewer
- Searching your Story viewer list instead of having to scroll through it all
A page for Instagram Plus has also appeared on the platform’s Help Center, which simply says: ‘This feature is not available to everyone right now.’
When is the Instagram anonymous Stories feature coming to the UK?
The plan is currently being tested in Mexico, Japan, and the Philippines, according to social media posts seen by Metro.
The screenshots shared by them over the last few days show the monthly prices as:
- MX$39 (£1.65)
- ¥319 (£1.51)
- PHP 65 (81p)
It hasn’t gone down well among all users, with one based in northern Japan describing the power to check who rewatched Stories as ‘creepy’.
Meta may be testing Instagram Plus in other countries. Meta has been approached for comment.
This comes two months after the social media company confirmed it would test subscriptions on Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp.
Most packages include beefed-up AI capabilities, such as access to an AI-powered short-form video generator within the Meta AI app called Vibes.
Manus, an AI agent that can carry out basic tasks on behalf of a user, like researching content ideas, will also be offered, according to leaks.
Meta has also begun asking users if they want to cough up £3.99 a month for an ad-free experience.
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