Meta Copies Snapchat’s Homework Again With ‘Plus’ Features for Instagram and Facebook
Meta Copies Snapchat’s Homework Again With ‘Plus’ Features for Instagram and Facebook
Meta 再度“抄作业”：为 Instagram 和 Facebook 推出“Plus”订阅服务
Meta announced new upcoming subscription plans for Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp this week. Instagram isn’t going behind a paywall, no. Rather, users will now be able to pay $4 a month for extra features, like seeing who rewatched your story post or pinning more posts to the top of your profile. Instagram Plus, Facebook Plus ($4 a month), and WhatsApp Plus ($3 a month) will roll out globally sometime this summer.
Meta 本周宣布，即将为 Instagram、Facebook 和 WhatsApp 推出新的订阅计划。当然，Instagram 并不会完全转为付费墙模式。相反，用户现在每月支付 4 美元即可获得额外功能，例如查看谁重看了你的快拍（Story），或者将更多帖子置顶在个人资料页顶部。Instagram Plus、Facebook Plus（每月 4 美元）和 WhatsApp Plus（每月 3 美元）将于今年夏天在全球范围内陆续推出。
These “Plus” plans are an attempt by Meta, led by CEO Mark Zuckerberg, to diversify how it makes money from users. Meta is also doing what Meta does best with this move: mimicking other social media platforms’ successes—specifically, Snapchat.
这些“Plus”计划是 Meta 在首席执行官马克·扎克伯格（Mark Zuckerberg）的领导下，试图实现用户收入来源多元化的一项举措。通过此举，Meta 也展现了其最擅长的本领：模仿其他社交媒体平台的成功经验——特别是 Snapchat。
“Loving husband, father of four boys, VP Product @ Meta” reads Evan Spiegel’s tongue-in-cheek LinkedIn profile. Spiegel, the cofounder and CEO of Snap, has never actually worked at Meta, though his social media platform has directly inspired at least some existing features on Instagram. After Instagram launched Stories in 2016, then-CEO Kevin Systrom didn’t mince words about how his platform was sometimes iterating on Snapchat features, telling TechCrunch that “they deserve all the credit” for the format of Stories.
“深情的丈夫，四个男孩的父亲，Meta 产品副总裁”，这是埃文·斯皮格尔（Evan Spiegel）在 LinkedIn 上那段带有调侃意味的个人简介。作为 Snap 的联合创始人兼首席执行官，斯皮格尔从未在 Meta 工作过，但他的社交媒体平台确实直接启发了 Instagram 现有的部分功能。2016 年 Instagram 推出“快拍”（Stories）功能后，时任首席执行官凯文·斯特罗姆（Kevin Systrom）毫不避讳地表示，他的平台有时确实是在迭代 Snapchat 的功能，并告诉 TechCrunch，快拍这种形式“所有的功劳都应归于他们”。
In 2017, Snap launched a “Maps” tool where users could opt in and see the pinpoint location of where all of their friends were based on when they last opened the app. Instagram launched a very similar “Maps” feature just last year, where users could track the location of friends who chose to share their GPS data.
2017 年，Snap 推出了“地图”（Maps）工具，用户可以选择开启该功能，查看好友上次打开应用时的精确位置。Instagram 去年也推出了非常相似的“地图”功能，用户可以追踪那些选择分享 GPS 数据的好友的位置。
And while IG’s recently launched “Instants” app, with its ephemeral, unfiltered snaps, is more like the once-popular BeReal than anything, disappearing photo messages are totally Snapchat’s main lane.
虽然 Instagram 最近推出的“Instants”应用，凭借其短暂且未经修饰的快照功能，看起来更像是曾经风靡一时的 BeReal，但“阅后即焚”的照片消息绝对是 Snapchat 的核心领域。
“As we shared earlier this year, we’re testing and scaling new subscriptions that provide deeper, more enhanced ways to use our apps and AI glasses,” says Maria Cubeta, a Meta spokesperson, over email. “So far, we’ve been testing subscription features for people to enhance how they express themselves and connect on Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp, like profile customization, stories insights, and super reactions.” She says this is just the start of the larger “Meta One” umbrella of subscription offerings, which will eventually include different, more expensive tiers catering toward businesses and creators as well as users who want extra access to Meta AI.
Meta 发言人玛丽亚·库贝塔（Maria Cubeta）在电子邮件中表示：“正如我们今年早些时候分享的那样，我们正在测试并推广新的订阅服务，旨在提供更深入、更丰富的应用及 AI 眼镜使用方式。到目前为止，我们一直在测试各种订阅功能，帮助用户提升在 Instagram、Facebook 和 WhatsApp 上的自我表达和社交体验，例如个人资料自定义、快拍洞察和超级反应（Super Reactions）。”她表示，这只是更大的“Meta One”订阅服务体系的开端，未来该体系将包含更多针对企业、创作者以及希望获得 Meta AI 额外访问权限的用户所提供的不同且价格更高的层级。
At launch, Instagram Plus will have the most extra features, from additional pins on your profile and unique bio fonts to creating siloed audiences for your Story posts and “Super Heart” reaction buttons. Facebook Plus will mainly allow you to control and customize your experience with Story posts, like rewatch insights. WhatsApp Plus will include more pinned chats, visual customizations, and premium stickers.
在推出初期，Instagram Plus 将提供最多的额外功能，从个人资料页的额外置顶位、独特的个人简介字体，到为快拍设置特定受众以及“超级心形”反应按钮。Facebook Plus 则主要允许用户控制和自定义快拍体验，例如查看重看次数统计。WhatsApp Plus 将包含更多的聊天置顶位、视觉自定义选项以及高级贴纸。
These subscription plans are simply history repeating itself. Snapchat dropped a $4 a month plan, called Snapchat+, back in 2022. It offered users access to exclusive features in the app and expanded over the few years, adding more options as well as AI tools. In February, Snapchat announced that this style of subscription plan helped the company achieve a “$1 billion annualized revenue run rate” in direct payments with over 25 million current subscribers around the world. (Despite being a font of feature inspiration, everything isn’t rosy at Snapchat, as the company struggles to turn a profit.)
这些订阅计划不过是历史的重演。Snapchat 早在 2022 年就推出了每月 4 美元的 Snapchat+ 计划。该计划为用户提供应用内的独家功能，并在过去几年中不断扩展，增加了更多选项和 AI 工具。今年 2 月，Snapchat 宣布这种订阅模式已帮助公司实现了“10 亿美元的年度化收入运行率”，在全球拥有超过 2500 万订阅用户。（尽管 Snapchat 是功能创新的源泉，但公司目前仍面临盈利困难，并非一切都一帆风顺。）
So, even down to the Plus naming convention, Meta seems to be heavily inspired by Snapchat once again. I would expect nothing less from the company that renamed itself during the metaverse fad. Following trends is Meta’s modus operandi. Keep an eye out for what Snapchat does next for a sneak peek at what Meta might do in a few years.
因此，即便是“Plus”这种命名方式，Meta 似乎也再次深受 Snapchat 的启发。对于那家在元宇宙热潮中改名的公司来说，这并不令人意外。追随潮流是 Meta 的行事准则。密切关注 Snapchat 的下一步动作，或许就能提前窥见 Meta 未来几年可能会做的事情。