Instagram is launching creator subscriptions in Australia, Canada, the UK, and more

Today, Meta has announced the rollout of Instagram subscriptions to eligible creators in several countries, including Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Spain, and the United Kingdom. Following its successful launch in the United States in January 2022, Instagram subscriptions will soon offer creators across the globe the opportunity to provide exclusive paid access to their followers.

This innovative feature enables creators to offer a variety of exclusive content, such as posts, Live videos, Stories, reels, and highlights, to their subscribers. In addition, subscribers receive a special badge that distinguishes them in the comments section and creators’ inboxes, fostering a sense of community and appreciation.

To qualify for Instagram subscriptions, creators must be at least 18 years old and have a follower count exceeding 10,000. They can then set their desired monthly price for the exclusive content, choosing from eight available price points. The prices range from $0.99 per month to a maximum of $99.99 per month, empowering creators to determine the value of their content based on their fan base’s support.

Meta’s goal with subscriptions is to provide creators with a consistent source of monthly income, driven by the loyalty and support of their most dedicated fans. As the rollout continues, Meta plans to expand access to Instagram subscriptions worldwide in the coming months, offering even more creators the opportunity to monetize their content.

In a blog post, Meta emphasized its commitment to developing tools that enable creators to earn revenue, promising more updates in the future. The company initially launched subscriptions on Facebook in 2020 before extending the offering to Instagram, allowing Pages in various countries to offer subscriptions as well.

Instagram joins the ranks of other social media platforms embracing the concept of paid exclusive content. TikTok’s “Series” feature, introduced earlier this year, permits eligible creators to post premium content behind a paywall, while Twitter also provides a subscription feature enabling users to access exclusive tweets from their favorite creators.

The expansion of Instagram subscriptions marks another significant step in empowering creators and fostering mutually beneficial connections between creators and their devoted audiences.

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Social Tech

Meta Announces Generative AI Stickers and AI Editing Tools

by George Mensah 2023-09-28

At its Meta Connect event today, CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced two new AI-powered features: generative AI stickers and AI editing tools.

Generative AI stickers

Generative AI stickers are a new way to express yourself in Meta’s messaging apps, including WhatsApp, Messenger, Instagram, and Facebook Stories. With generative AI stickers, you can create unique stickers by simply typing in a text prompt. For example, you could type “Hungarian sheep dog driving a 4×4” and Emu, Meta’s new foundational model for image generation, would generate a sticker that matches your prompt.

Generative AI stickers are currently in beta testing and will be available to English-language users over the next month.

AI editing tools

AI editing tools are a new way to edit your photos and videos using AI. With AI editing tools, you can change the style of your photos and videos, remove objects from the background, and even create new images and videos from scratch.

Meta demonstrated two new AI editing tools at Meta Connect: Restyle and Backdrop.

Restyle lets you reimagine the visual styles of an image by typing in prompts like “watercolor” or “collage from magazines and newspapers, torn edges.” Backdrop lets you change the scene or background of your image by using prompts.

AI editing tools will be available soon on Instagram.

Meta’s commitment to responsible AI

Meta has pledged to develop AI responsibly and ethically. The company says that it will indicate the use of AI in its images “to reduce the chances of people mistaking them for human-generated content.” Meta is also experimenting with forms of visible and invisible markers to help people identify AI-generated content.

Meta’s generative AI stickers and AI editing tools are exciting new features that have the potential to revolutionize the way we communicate and express ourselves. With these tools, we can now create unique and personalized content that is tailored to our specific needs and interests.

Social Tech

X Expands Community Notes to Video Content, but Experts Question its Effectiveness

by George Mensah 2023-09-24

X, formerly known as Twitter, has expanded its crowdsourced fact-checking system, Community Notes, to support video content. This means that approved members can now attach written notes to videos that contain misleading information. The notes will be visible to all users, providing them with additional context about the content they are viewing.

The expansion of Community Notes to video content is a welcome move, as it could help to reduce the spread of misinformation on the platform. However, some experts have questioned the effectiveness of the system, due to a few fundamental flaws.

One flaw is that, for a Community Note to become visible, it must first be approved by members on both sides of the discourse. This can create a situation where harmful or misleading content can go unchecked for a while before it gets tagged with the proper disclaimer, if at all.

Another flaw is X’s disproportionate implementation of its moderation, safety, and security features. For example, X has been repeatedly called out for censoring critical voices targeting the government in markets like India and the Middle East. This raises concerns about whether Community Notes will be applied fairly and consistently across all types of content.

Finally, some experts have criticized the fact that X is indirectly passing the onus of fact-checking to its most prolific users, rather than having a dedicated trust and safety team do the job. This is especially concerning given that Elon Musk famously gutted the company’s safety team soon after he took over.

Overall, the expansion of Community Notes to video content is a positive step, but it is important to be aware of its limitations. The system is still under development, and it remains to be seen how effective it will be in reducing the spread of misinformation on the platform.

In addition to the flaws mentioned above, here are some other concerns about the Community Notes system:

It is unclear how X will ensure that Community Notes are accurate and unbiased.
The system could be used to harass or silence certain users.
It could be used to spread misinformation itself, if it is not carefully monitored.

Overall, the Community Notes system is a promising experiment, but it is important to be aware of its limitations and potential risks. X should carefully monitor the system and make adjustments as needed to ensure that it is effective and fair.

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