Meta offering paid subscriptions in EU
It seems Meta is starting to offer paid subscriptions for Facebook & Instagram in EU due to privacy regulations.
To comply with evolving European regulations, we are introducing a new subscription option in the EU, EEA and Switzerland. In November, we will be offering people who use Facebook or Instagram and reside in these regions the choice to continue using these personalised services for free with ads, or subscribe to stop seeing ads. While people are subscribed, their information will not be used for ads.
People in these countries will be able to subscribe for a fee to use our products without ads. Depending on where you purchase it will cost €9.99/month on the web or €12.99/month on iOS and Android.
In general, I’m going to spin this as a positive news. By that I mean people having option to pay (with money instead of their data being exploited) for services they use is highly welcome.
The part I don’t like is that it’s Meta. Me being somewhat of a privacy enthusiast, I don’t like the company, paid subs or not. Having also been on the advertiser side, I know what kind of data is collected and what it enables advertisers to do. And that’s likely not even the whole of it.
I wonder though, how many will find enough value in FB / IG (while valuing their privacy) that they open up their wallets?
How many won’t care at all and are thinking “why would I pay”? Sadly, most of them I think.