this post was submitted on 27 Jan 2026
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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.

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[–] Foofighter@discuss.tchncs.de 2 points 3 hours ago

So, all the bots are supposed to pay or watch add's? That's insane!

[–] NarrativeBear@lemmy.world 3 points 4 hours ago

Is this image in the article AI generated or a meta replicant?

[–] Almacca@aussie.zone 3 points 4 hours ago
[–] eronth@lemmy.world 15 points 7 hours ago

How long until the premium version also has ads? It's the clear trend at this point.

[–] Doomsider@lemmy.world 5 points 7 hours ago

Pays us to spy on you!

[–] MagicShel@lemmy.zip 57 points 13 hours ago* (last edited 13 hours ago) (3 children)

users are presented with a clear choice between two paths

There is a third path. Just stop being a user. Maybe that choice isn't clear enough. Push notifications are fucking evil. I removed the app and use FB as a PWA about once every six months. I might use it more if it had content from my friends or anyone I gave a fuck about, but instead it's all promotions and suggestions.

Without the little red number creating FOMO on my phone, I have no impulse to check it. Yet I check Lemmy several times a day. I check Bluesky every couple of days. Because every time I open them, someone I want to hear from is posting something I want to see. You should try that, Zuck.

[–] a_non_monotonic_function@lemmy.world 1 points 5 hours ago* (last edited 5 hours ago)

Man, you have no idea how old their user base is.

[–] Bishma@discuss.tchncs.de 24 points 13 hours ago (2 children)

I haven't touched a facebook product in almost 15 years and my life has been nothing but better for it.

[–] captainlezbian@lemmy.world 9 points 12 hours ago

Shit yeah that's about how long for me. Gods, I remember talking about how cool and futuristic Facebook was back in like 08, but in my defense I was a middle schooler. I rapidly saw it morph into a hub of unpleasantness and bailed.

[–] bluGill@fedia.io 1 points 12 hours ago (1 children)

There are a few things facebook is better at than anything in my life - checking up on distant friends that I wouldn't call normally but I want to know the big events in their life; ensuring my parent see pictures of my kids (we don't live in the same state). However those things only need a couple minutes of my time per day, and that isn't enough to make them a big company and so they keep shoving garbage that doesn't make my life better in my face. That garbage takes up hours per day of many people's time and is worth a lot to facebook.

[–] ptu@sopuli.xyz 1 points 2 hours ago

For most of our history, we couldn’t check on how distant friends were doing. Except through gossip I guess. Today we can be connected for decades with people we never interact with irl. I wonder if it takes a toll mentally to be attached to so many people for so long.

[–] officermike@lemmy.world 3 points 12 hours ago

Probably 4-6 months ago I finally reached my breaking point. Facebook used to be centered around friends. Sure, most of them are now dormant on the platform, but for those that were still active, they were still buried amongst piles of far-right bullshit that I never asked for and that wouldn't go away no matter how much I clicked "see less like this." I deleted the Android app and logged in via mobile browser. I still occasionally check the happenings in my industry's Facebook groups and my HOA, but Facebook is otherwise dead to me.

[–] PushButton@lemmy.world 45 points 13 hours ago (3 children)

Meta claims the subscriptions will "unlock productivity

Productivity... on Facebook? God they are desperately need to sell you something here.

[–] Tollana1234567@lemmy.today 1 points 3 hours ago

facebook is about 90-99% bots, cant get any more productive than that.

[–] tonytins@pawb.social 12 points 12 hours ago (2 children)

It was literally Zuck's whole pitch for VR.

Meetings! Now in 3D.

[–] Almacca@aussie.zone 3 points 4 hours ago* (last edited 4 hours ago) (1 children)

Man, that was so tone-deaf. The dickhead workaholic thought everyone was just like him and only wanted to use it for work.

[–] Tollana1234567@lemmy.today 2 points 3 hours ago (1 children)

he is an android, robots dont need any sleep.

[–] Almacca@aussie.zone 1 points 3 hours ago
[–] PabloSexcrowbar@piefed.social 4 points 11 hours ago

I worked there during the whole VR pitch and they tried to encourage those of us with headsets to join meetings with them.

Nobody had legs. It was a huge selling point of the Quest Pro that you could have legs.

[–] bluGill@fedia.io 2 points 12 hours ago

If they show me the pictures of my friends, while hiding all the garbage (outrage politics, "you won't believe this"...) so I spend about 2 minutes a day there and get off it would greatly increase productivity. Well it would lower mine because I almost never check facebook anymore - but my life would be enhanced if they limited themselves to the useful things they do and let me go in 2 minutes: a trade off that would be worth it.

[–] realitista@lemmus.org 14 points 11 hours ago

Who in the fuck would do this?

[–] 9point6@lemmy.world 12 points 11 hours ago* (last edited 11 hours ago) (1 children)

I hit this today when I went to check a local restaurant's Instagram for the menu (like many I've come across, they treat Instagram as their website)

Nope. I guess that information is now all gone to me

Between this and Twitter I'm pretty annoyed at how much harder it is to get local information without just physically going to a place compared to 5 years ago. I'm not gonna pretend it used to be perfect, but this is getting spectacularly shitty

[–] Cherry@piefed.social 7 points 10 hours ago

This drives me crazy. Hopefully it’s the start of the end for FB.

[–] SeaSgt@lemmy.zip 6 points 9 hours ago (1 children)

Why the fuck do ppl still use Meta and its suite of spy apps. Not to mention he has a special set of knee pads when he cups the orange fascist shriveled nut sack.

[–] MalReynolds@slrpnk.net 1 points 6 hours ago

Why the fuck

did they ever ?

(trust Zuck, "dumb fucks")

[–] EndlessNightmare@reddthat.com 6 points 10 hours ago* (last edited 9 hours ago)

Subscription? For Fascbook? Is this some sort of fucking joke?

[–] UnspecificGravity@piefed.social 13 points 12 hours ago

Guarantee that your data still gets used to feed you ads with the "premium" subscription.

[–] JoeKrogan@lemmy.world 4 points 10 hours ago

More signal users incoming

[–] W3dd1e@lemmy.zip 5 points 10 hours ago

It’s too late. You already spent 20+ years training people to use the shittiest version you could give them.

[–] tomiant@piefed.social 6 points 12 hours ago

Of all the faces I hate most on planet earth, that dildo's is second.

[–] panda_abyss@lemmy.ca 7 points 13 hours ago

I know I would be more creative if I handed Zuck my money monthly. No doubt about it.

[–] Pika@sh.itjust.works 7 points 13 hours ago* (last edited 13 hours ago) (1 children)

honestly, with how much my grandfather uses facebook, and how often he clicks the stupid scam ads, this might be a valid option for him that is easier.

This ofc is if they decide to launch this program for <3$ a month. If it's anything more than that I see it flopping on entry.

edit: looking at the article, I'm seeing 4EUR/m... yea 5$ isn't horrible, but at the same time that's probably too high for him to even consider it. That's 2$ less than a yt lite premium subscription, and that's a platform where ads actually get in the way of things.

[–] UnspecificGravity@piefed.social 8 points 12 hours ago

I doubt they are actually going to block scams with the subscription service. Probably just block banner ads or some shit but keep the fake posts and such.

[–] My_IFAKs___gone@lemmy.world 4 points 13 hours ago* (last edited 13 hours ago)

~~TheFacebook~~Meta: We Suck and We Know It. Now give us money.

[–] dantel@programming.dev 3 points 13 hours ago (2 children)

I've never noticed until now that Zuckerberg looks like a giraffe.

[–] Tollana1234567@lemmy.today 1 points 3 hours ago

a cylon perhaps, with thier long prehensile neck.

[–] My_IFAKs___gone@lemmy.world 5 points 13 hours ago

I can't believe you would insult the noble giraffe species with such an insensitive comment.