Meta Imeweka Mkazo Zaidi Kwenye Huduma za Kulipia (Subscriptions)
Siku ya Jumatano, kampuni hiyo kubwa ya mitandao ya kijamii ilitangaza kuwa inazindua rasmi huduma zake za kulipia kwa watumiaji wa kawaida duniani kote kwenye programu zake kuu za Instagram, Facebook, na WhatsApp. Pia, imeanza kufanya majaribio ya vifurushi vipya vya usajili kwa ajili ya wafanyabiashara, watengeneza maudhui (creators), na watumiaji wa Meta AI.Kwa gharama ya dola chache kwa mwezi, watumiaji wanaojiunga na Instagram Plus ($3.99/mwezi), Facebook Plus ($3.99/mwezi), au WhatsApp Plus ($2.99/mwezi) watapata fursa ya kutumia vipengele vya ziada kama vile kubadilisha muonekano wa wasifu (profile customization), miitikio ya kipekee (super reactions), na takwimu za kina za Story, miongoni mwa mambo mengine.
Katika taarifa yake, Mkuu wa Bidhaa wa Meta, Naomi Gleit, alibainisha kuwa "vipengele vya kufurahisha zaidi" vitaongezwa hapo baadaye.
Wakati huo huo, Meta itaanza kufanya majaribio ya huduma nyinginezo, ikiwa ni pamoja na vifurushi vya kitaalamu kwa ajili ya watengeneza maudhui na biashara, pamoja na vifurushi vinavyolenga teknolojia ya AI kwa watumiaji wote. Majaribio haya mapya yatatambuliwa chini ya jina la "Meta One," ambalo litatumika kama kitovu kikuu cha kampuni hiyo kwa ajili ya huduma zake zote za kulipia kuanzia sasa na kuendelea.
Sababu za Kuanzishwa kwa Vifurushi Hivi
Meta ilithibitisha kuwa ilikuwa inapanga kuanzisha huduma hizi za kulipia mapema mwaka huu, huku majaribio ya awali yakianza kipindi cha masika (spring). Lengo kuu la vifurushi hivi kwa watumiaji wa kawaida ni kutoa vipengele vya ziada kwa watumiaji wakubwa wanaotaka mambo makubwa zaidi kutoka kwenye programu zao za kijamii.Hatua hii pia inaipa Meta fursa ya kuongeza vyanzo vyake vya mapato nje ya matangazo ya biashara, kwa kujipatia faida zaidi kutoka kwa mabilioni ya watumiaji wake wa sasa. Hii inakuja kutokana na ukweli kwamba fursa za ukuaji wa programu hizi zimeanza kufikia ukomo kwa kuwa tayari zimesambaa duniani kote.
Vifurushi vipya vya "Plus" vimetengenezwa maalum kulingana na kila programu:
- Facebook Plus na Instagram Plus vinajikita zaidi kwenye namna ya kujieleza kijamii (social expression).
- WhatsApp Plus inalenga zaidi urembo binafsi (personalization) na utumaji ujumbe.
Vipengele Vya Kipekee Kwenye Kila Programu
📸 Instagram Plus
Kifurushi hiki kinampa mteja uwezo wa:- Kuona idadi ya jumla ya watu waliotazama tena (rewatch) Story yake.
- Kutengeneza orodha zisizo na kikomo za watazamaji wa Story (zaidi ya chaguo la "Close Friends" pekee).
- Kuangazia (spotlight) Story mara moja kwa wiki ili ipate watazamaji wengi zaidi.
- Kurefusha muda wa Story kukaa hewani zaidi ya saa 24.
- Kutazama Story ya mtu mwingine kwa siri bila jina lako kuonekana kwenye orodha ya waliotazama.
- Kutafuta (search) jina la mtu mahususi kwenye orodha ya waliotazama Story yako.
- Kuposti picha au video moja kwa moja kwenye wasifu wako na sehemu ya "Highlights" bila posti hiyo kuonekana kwenye "feeds" za wafuasi wako.
- Kutumia miitikio ya vikaragosi vya "Super Heart" kwenye Story, kubadilisha muonekano wa nembo ya programu (custom app icons), kubadilisha miandiko (fonts) kwenye wasifu wako (bio), na uwezo wa kubandika (pin) posti nyingi zaidi kwenye wasifu wako.
Facebook Plus
Inatoa vipengele vinavyofanana kwa kiasi kikubwa na vile vya Instagram Plus.WhatsApp Plus
Inatoa vipengele tofauti kama vile:- Mandhari maalum ya programu (app themes).
- Milio ya simu ya kipekee (custom ringtones).
- Uwezo wa kubandika soga nyingi zaidi (additional pinned chats).
- Kuweka makundi maalum ya soga (list customization).
- Vikaragosi vya hali ya juu (premium stickers), na vingine vingi.
Vifurushi vya AI na Huduma za Biashara/Watengeneza Maudhui
Pamoja na uzinduzi huo, Meta inasema itaanza kufanya majaribio ya vifurushi vingine zaidi vya kulipia, na hapa ndipo mambo yanapoanza kuwa magumu kidogo:Vifurushi vya Meta AI
Kwa watumiaji wa Meta AI, majaribio yatafanyika kwenye vifurushi viwili — Meta One Plus ($7.99/mwezi) na Meta One Premium ($19.99/mwezi). Vifurushi vyote vina vipengele sawa, lakini kile cha Premium kinafungua uwezo mkubwa zaidi wa kuchakata maswali magumu yanayohitaji nguvu kubwa ya kompyuta.Hii ina maana kwamba kifurushi cha Premium kitatoa uchambuzi wa kina na wa kimantiki kwa ajili ya kazi ngumu (yaani, kuongeza uwezo wa "thinking mode" kwenye programu ya Meta AI au kwenye wavuti). Pia kitatoa uwezo mkubwa zaidi wa kutengeneza video na picha kwenye programu zote za Meta.
Meta AI itaendelea kuwa bure kwa watumiaji wa kawaida, lakini vifurushi hivi vinafuata mfumo ule ule unaotumiwa na kampuni nyingine za AI zinazotoza malipo kwa ajili ya matumizi makubwa na mifumo yenye nguvu zaidi. Meta imeongeza kuwa vifurushi hivi vitapanuliwa wiki zijazo ili kuleta faida zaidi kwa wale wanaotumia miwani ya kisasa ya AI (AI glasses).
Vifurushi vya Biashara na Watengeneza Maudhui
Majaribio ya vifurushi vingine viwili yataanza mwishoni mwa wiki hii kwenye masoko yaliyochaguliwa ikiwemo Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Thailand, na Bangladesh.- Meta One Essential ($14.99/mwezi): Kifurushi hiki kitatoa alama ya uthibitisho (Verified badge), ulinzi dhidi ya watu wanaojifanya wewe, na ukurasa wa kisasa wa viunganishi (enhanced linksheet) ambapo watumiaji wanaweza kuweka viungo vinavyoelekeza kwenye mitandao yao mingine ya kijamii na tovuti zao, sawa na ilivyo kwenye Meta Verified.
- Meta One Advanced ($49.99/mwezi): Hiki ni kifurushi cha gharama kubwa zaidi. Kinajumuisha faida zote za kifurushi cha Essential, pamoja na:
- Uwezo wa kuonyeshwa zaidi kwenye feed za Facebook na kutokea juu zaidi kwenye matokeo ya utafutaji ya Facebook na Instagram.
- Kuvutia watu kwa kitufe cha "Follow" kilichokolezwa rangi kwenye Reels.
- Kutuma mialiko ya "kufuata" (follow invitations) kiotomatiki kwa watu wanaonyesha nia kwenye maudhui yako.
- Kusaidia biashara na watengeneza maudhui kuwaleta watu kwenye tovuti au maduka yao kupitia viungo (links) kwenye posti na Reels za Instagram.
- Kupata takwimu bora zaidi (analytics), ikijumuisha uchambuzi wa kina wa washindani wako kwenye Instagram na takwimu maalum za watazamaji kwenye Facebook.
- Zana zilizoboreshwa za kuratibu muda wa kuposti (scheduling tools), zana za kushiriki ufikiaji wa akaunti na wasimamizi wengine (moderators) bila kutoa nenosiri lako, na arifa zinazokujulisha pale watu wengine kwenye Facebook au Instagram wanapotumia tena maudhui yako ili uweze kuomba uwekewe sifa (credit) kwenye reel yako ya asili.
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Meta is doubling down on its subscription offerings. On Wednesday, the social networking giant announced it’s now rolling out its consumer subscription plans globally for its flagship apps, Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp, and beginning tests of new subscriptions for businesses, creators, and Meta AI users.
For a few dollars per month, consumers subscribing to Instagram Plus ($3.99/mo), Facebook Plus ($3.99/mo), or WhatsApp Plus ($2.99/mo) will gain access to extra features, like profile customization, super reactions, and story insights, among other things.
In an announcement, Meta’s head of product, Naomi Gleit, noted that “more fun features” will be added in the future.
Meanwhile, Meta will begin testing other offerings, including professional plans for creators and businesses, and AI-focused plans for all users. These new tests will be branded as “Meta One,” which will serve as the company’s home for its subscription offerings going forward.
Meta confirmed it was planning a subscription offering earlier this year, with its initial tests rolling out in the spring. The idea behind the plans aimed at consumers is to provide additional features for power users who want more from their social apps. It also allows Meta to diversify its revenue streams beyond advertising by extracting more value from its existing audience of billions, given the limited growth opportunities for these apps, which have already achieved global saturation.
The new “Plus” plans are tailored to each individual app, with Facebook Plus and Instagram Plus focused more on social expression, while WhatsApp Plus focuses on personalization and messaging.
However, the company tells us the new plans don’t replace its existing offering, Meta Verified, which is focused on verification, impersonation protection, and extra support. (This could change in time, but for now, Meta is not winding down the older plans.)
For starters, the new Instagram Plus plan gives subscribers access to extra features, like the ability to see how many people have rewatched your Story in aggregate, as well as the ability to create unlimited audience lists for Stories, beyond the “Close Friends” option. Users will also be able to spotlight a story once a week for additional views, extend a story beyond 24 hours, preview a story without showing up as a viewer, search their story viewer list to see who is watching, and more. Users will also be able to post straight to their profile and highlight without showing up on their followers’ feeds.
There are also other features like Super Heart animated reactions for Stories, custom app icons, customizable fonts for profile bios, and access to additional pins for your profile.
These features are designed to better serve creators and those looking to grow their following and understand their audience, but they could also appeal to heavy users.
Facebook Plus offers a similar set of features to Instagram Plus. WhatsApp Plus, however, offers other features, like app themes, custom ringtones, additional pinned chats, list customization, premium stickers, and more.
AI plans and more, including those for creators and businesses
Alongside the launch, Meta says it will begin testing even more subscription plans, which is where things start to get confusing.For Meta AI users, it will test two plans — Meta One Plus ($7.99/mo) and Meta One Premium ($19.99/mo) with the same features, but the Premium plan unlocks more capacity on higher compute queries. That means the Premium plan would offer deeper reasoning for complex tasks (i.e., more of “thinking mode” in the Meta AI app or on the web). It would also offer more video and image-generation capabilities across Meta’s apps.
Meta AI will remain free for more casual users, but these plans follow the same path as those put forth by other AI model providers that charge for additional compute and heavier usage. The plans will later expand in the weeks to come with more benefits for those who use AI glasses, Meta says.
The AI plans will start testing next month, initially in Singapore, Guatemala, and Bolivia.
Two other plans for creators and businesses will begin tests later this week, in markets including Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Thailand, and Bangladesh.
The Meta One Essential plan ($14.99/mo) will offer the Verified badge, impersonation protection, and an enhanced linksheet where users can link out to their online presence across social channels and the web, similar to Meta Verified.
The more expensive Meta One Advanced plan ($49.99/mo) will include the Essential plan benefits, as well as the ability to be featured in the Facebook feed, appear higher in Facebook and Instagram search results, gain attention with a bold “Follow” button on Reels, and automatically send “follow” invitations to people who engage with your content.
It can also help creators and businesses drive people to their website or shop through links in Instagram posts and Instagram Reels, and through enhanced Facebook and Instagram profiles with their expanded linksheets. These plans, not surprisingly, include better analytics, including deeper, competitive insights on Instagram and custom audience insights on Facebook.
Advanced plan subscribers will have access to optimized scheduling tools, tools to share access with other account moderators (without sharing a password), and notifications that alert you when others on Facebook or Instagram reuse your content so you can request a label crediting your original reel.
Gleit acknowledged that Meta is still experimenting with these AI and professional plans for the time being, but aims to bring them all together under Meta One, where they will then continue to be updated and expanded over time.