On January 26, Meta announced that it was going to test premium subscriptions across its apps. The subscriptions will offer exclusive features and expanded AI tools, while ad-supported versions remain free.

Under the test, users are presented with a clear choice between two paths. People can subscribe to use Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp without ads, or continue using the services for free while agreeing to ongoing data use for advertising purposes.

Meta claims the subscriptions will “unlock productivity, creativity, and AI-powered features,” with each app receiving its own set of paid tools rather than a single bundled plan. The company isn’t committing to one configuration and plans in order to experiment with different feature sets and pricing models over time.

  • Encrypt-Keeper@lemmy.world
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    15 hours ago

    As an American the thought of your doctor requiring WhatsApp to communicate with you is just a foreign concept lol

    • NewNewAugustEast@lemmy.zip
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      14 hours ago

      Imagine if every state had a different cell phone carrier or go back even further to when it was long distance even just blocks or cities over. Now imagine a technology comes in that doesn’t care what carrier you are on, or if it’s long distance.

      That is kind of what happened to countries. Especially if you have people who work in one and live in another or have clients in another.

      So even though now maybe it isn’t long distance, or carriers talk to each other, everyone is used to the way they have been doing it for free.

      • Encrypt-Keeper@lemmy.world
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        13 hours ago

        Perhaps this new European government push to get away from American Big Tech will free you guys of this burden

    • turdburglar@piefed.social
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      15 hours ago

      sure but first, as an american, you have to make sure the doctor in question is ‘in network’

        • turdburglar@piefed.social
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          14 hours ago

          sorry, the joke was about your ‘weird’ whatsapp communications vs our totally fuken stupid healthcare middlemen only exist to extract money from the doctor/patient relationship.

          • Encrypt-Keeper@lemmy.world
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            13 hours ago

            I wouldn’t call being forced to use a privacy invading, personal data harvesting, foreign-owned communications platform by nearly every facet of your society “weird”. I’d call it “deeply troubling”.