You might have to pay for Facebook and Instagram in the future

For the longest time ever, we have been enjoying our favourite Meta apps for free. From Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, we use these apps everyday without paying. But have you ever wondered why is that so. Can does this companies even earn money if they do not even charge their users for a subscription fee? Could this business model even be sustainable for the company? X (formerly known as twitter) also started by granting free access for their users. But X has recently experimented with charging users a small fee from users to access the site’s central features, citing that this is the only way to stop the infiltration of bots into the social media platform. Is Twitter a precursor of how Meta is going to be? Would Meta also crumble under the pressure of capitalism?

Facebook is constantly using your data against you

If you have ever watched the documentary The Social Dilemma, then you would know where this is going. While users are able to use their social media apps without having to pay a subscription fee, but that is because they are paying Meta in another currency, called our data. Every single day, a group of engineers are sitting on their desk analysing your data, and planning how they can use this data to advertise new products to you through their social media app. It is through this method that they have amass themselves all that profit. Still don’t believe me, try this experiment:

Open your google browser and search for an item that you would want to buy if money isn’t an issue; be it a bag, or computer, or outfit. Then switch to your Facebook or Instagram page and watch the magic happen. Don’t be surprise to see the an advertisement of the item that you just search for on your Facebook or Instagram page.

Meta making your pay for using their apps

Over the years, EU has been drilling down hard on Big Tech companies on issues regarding user data privacy. For example, Meta was fined more than $900M back in 2022 for infringing on two articles of the EU’s data protection laws. EU also dished out stricter laws back in 2018 to protect people’s online data.

So what does this mean for Meta, if they can no longer harvest their consumer’s data for a profit? Do we then have to pay for using the app just like how X is doing?

We can see in recent years that Meta is slowing going in that direction as well. Meta released Meta Verified back in February this year, where they are charging their customers for a monthly subscription fee of $15 dollars per month for its functions. With it comes benefits such as better protection from impersonators, direct access to customer support, and exclusive stickers.

Meta threatening to exit EU

The biggest irony of this is that Meta is one of EU’s gatekeepers under the Digital Markets Act (DMA), a regulation aimed at ensuring fair competition and greater accountability for large online platforms. Following this Saga, many have speculated that Facebook could threatening Eu with its exit to free itself from the binds of all these rules and regulation. But Meta has made it very clear that they are not exiting the EU anytime soon, and the media’s speculation that they are threatening with their exit is factually incorrect.

Mentally prepared for a world where Meta is no longer free

While we are still far from that being a reality, as the EU has yet to release a law that completely prohibits tech companies from harvesting their consumer data. But we cannot deny that that day might come to us sooner than later. Until then, we should brace ourselves for a world where we have to pay for Whatsapp or Instagram. But the silverlining of that is that we can also expect some small perks and special features that come with the subscription fee.