this post was submitted on 27 Jan 2026
257 points (97.4% liked)

Technology

80503 readers
4060 users here now

This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.


Our Rules


  1. Follow the lemmy.world rules.
  2. Only tech related news or articles.
  3. Be excellent to each other!
  4. Mod approved content bots can post up to 10 articles per day.
  5. Threads asking for personal tech support may be deleted.
  6. Politics threads may be removed.
  7. No memes allowed as posts, OK to post as comments.
  8. Only approved bots from the list below, this includes using AI responses and summaries. To ask if your bot can be added please contact a mod.
  9. Check for duplicates before posting, duplicates may be removed
  10. Accounts 7 days and younger will have their posts automatically removed.

Approved Bots


founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
 

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.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] NewNewAugustEast@lemmy.zip 13 points 1 week ago (14 children)

Instagram and WhatsApp... So hard to get people to stop. Particularly where smaller countries and people who travel are, where WhatsApp is the default phone.

So shitty.

[–] ok_effect@feddit.dk 6 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (13 children)

If anyone wants to talk to me, they’ll have to use one of the myriad ways to keep in touch that don’t involve Meta. I refuse to continue to be their product and help them keep the idea alive that they should somehow be unavoidable. Meta relies entirely on the relational networks of people, so I removed my node from their system and made their product a little worse for anybody interested in engaging with me. Life is better without Meta dopamin/rage addiction anyway.

[–] UltraGiGaGigantic@lemmy.ml 2 points 1 week ago (2 children)

I also enjoy not being reachable for the majority of people in my life, but for different reasons.

[–] ok_effect@feddit.dk 2 points 1 week ago

That’s the point - you are not unreachable if you’re not hooked up to Meta’s products. Far from it - at least from a European perspective. Threema and Wire are good European alternatives to Messenger, that are actually private. But also, the telephone has been invented, and so has sms and e-mail. The important thing is the human relationship, which continues to exist regardless of the app or technology you use to speak to each other.

load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments (11 replies)
load more comments (11 replies)