Instagram begins testing paid subscriptions to help creators earn money

Back in June 2020, Facebook launched Subscriptions to help creators earn money with the support of their communities. Now that business model has expanded to Instagram as the company announced Instagram Subscriptions.

With Instagram Subscriptions, Instagram aims to help creators on its platform "develop deeper connections with their most engaged followers and grow their recurring monthly income by giving subscribers access to exclusive content and benefits," and, once the followers get subscribed to creators, they get the benefits of Subscriber Lives, Subscriber Stories, and Subscriber Badges. You can watch the video below by Instagram head Mr. Adam Mosseri explaining these features.

🎉 Subscriptions 🎉

Subscriptions allow creators to monetize and become closer to their followers through exclusive experiences:
- Subscriber Lives
- Subscriber Stories
- Subscriber Badges

We hope to add more creators to this test in the coming months. More to come. ✌🏼 pic.twitter.com/SbFhN2QWMX

— Adam Mosseri (@mosseri) January 19, 2022

Instagram Subscriptions will be initially available to a limited number of creators in the US, including @alanchikinchow, @sedona._, @alizakelly, @kelseylynncook, @elliottnorris, @jordanchiles, @jackjerry, @bunnymichael, @donalleniii, and @lonnieiiv. However, Instagram said it plans to expand this feature to more creators over the next few months.

The Subscriptions feature will allow creators to unlock a "subscribe" button on their Instagram profile and set a monthly price of their choice. And, citing its commitment to support the platform's creators, Instagram said it will not charge any fees for these subscriptions from the creators until 2023.

It's unclear when Instagram Subscriptions will be rolled out globally, but if the testing in the US goes smooth, we expect the feature to begin rolling out widely in a few months.

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