Meta exploring Instagram Plus with added features for subscribers

New Delhi: Meta has recently reported that they have started experimenting with their latest premium subscription plan on Instagram in select countries. It’s the latest plan for Instagram Plus, which offers a set of additional features that are not going to be available on the standard version of the application.

This also includes the ability to view someone’s Story without knowing them, among others. Some reports also suggested that the move comes shortly after Meta stated it was exploring a subscription-based service across its applications, including Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp.

One of the highlighted features, being experimented with, is the ability to view someone’s story without knowing them, indicating that users viewed the story. Instagram now shows who has viewed a Story, but this feature would allow users to stay anonymous.

Subscribers can also see how many people have re-watched their own Stories, by offering more insight into engagement. Additionally, it has the ability to create multiple custom audience lists for Stories. Rather than relying only on the Close Friends list, users can group followers into different categories and choose exactly who sees each post.

Subscription has also been reported to enable the users to expand Story’s visibility by an extra 24 hours. There will also be a spotlight option, which lets users boost one Story per week so that it will appear more prominently for the followers.

Other features include an animated Superlike reaction for Stories and a search option within the Story viewers list, making it easier to check if the specific person has seen the post.

Meta has not officially announced or confirmed the regions where this feature is being experimented with. Instagram Plus is currently available in countries like Mexico, Japan, and the Philippines. Instagram Plus is different from Meta Verified.

While Meta Verified is generally aimed at the creators and businesses with features like verification badges, Instagram Plus is especially designed for everyday users who want extra control and features on the application.