Meta goes even bigger on subscriptions, up to $500+ monthly

Matt’s away this week, sunning himself and dancing to superstar DJs in Ibiza.

His regular messages to me about social app features have been replaced by videos of David Guetta delivering awesome drops to an ecstatic crowd, which means one thing…

I’m taking care of Geekout this week.

There’s plenty for us to get our teeth into…

Plus the usual cavalcade of app updates, social debates, and… bad dates? More on that one at the end.

Let’s dive in…

– Martin

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Meta went deeper into its subscription era this week with new and expanded offerings giving just about everyone a reason to hand over cash to Zuck every month.

After being in testing for a while, Meta One is now officially available globally.

If you’re a consumer, you might want to pay $7.99 per month or $19.99 per month for all of Meta’s ‘Plus’ app subscriptions and some extra AI usage (if anyone actually actively enjoys using most of Meta’s AI products?!).

Meanwhile, creators and social media pros get pricier tiers with useful features like a Verified badge, adding links to posts and Reels, shared access to accounts, and (supposedly) better support.

Depending on your needs, you can pay from $14.99 per month up to the Max package that costs AT LEAST $499 per month(!).

These new options certainly help to clean up and simplify Meta’s subscription offer. But it’s still perhaps more confusing than it needs to be.

The individual ‘Plus’ subscriptions for Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp are still there and there’s even an Instagram Edits subscription on the way. That’s something Edits’ director of product management Matt Simari teased to us in a Geekout interview back in the spring.

People wanting to sound smart about social media have long said “if it’s free, you are the product”. That’s true, but it’s worth noting that these subscriptions don’t get rid of ads.

The company does offer a separate monthly payment in some markets to remove ads, but the broad picture is that in Meta’s subscription era, you’re both the product and the customer.

But hey, got to keep that growth story going for the stock market, eh?

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Alongside its new Specs AR glasses, Snap has launched Specs Intelligence.

As The Verge puts it:

“[It is] a new AI assistant that can connect other digital accounts to help you with things like work tasks and keeping track of travel information.

“It seems similar to AI assistants like Meta’s Muse and Gemini’s Spark, though Snap is pitching Specs Intelligence as an “anticipatory AI service” that “helps you manage what needs attention today, so you can make progress toward your longer-term goals.” Like with other AI assistants, you can also chat with it.”

Specs Intelligence will have iOS and Mac apps to accompany use on Specs itself.

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Can this startup democratise the influencer lifestyle, while providing budget reach for brands? That’s the pitch.

Noise lets ‘normal people’ without huge social followings sign up to promote brands and get paid by results.

It’ll be interesting to see if this one takes off…

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More brand news and views:

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Also quoted this week:

“I think part of what you try to do with social media is just communicate where people are… when you post, you probably don’t just post in one place. You can put it everywhere. So I mean, I post the same things on Threads and X.”

- Mark Zuckerberg isn’t afraid of copying and pasting posts across platforms (even those he doesn’t control)

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“Every lab has the responsibility and incentive to move at the pace required to train its models safely, and the ability to take its own actions to ensure that happens.”

- Mark Zuckerberg weighs in on the AI safety debate, backing the idea that governments shouldn’t intervene and labs should just get on with policing themselves

Two former TikTok execs have teamed up to launch Superpose, an app that uses AI to teach you how to best pose for a photo.

Is that something people need help with? Apparently so.

TechCrunch has an interview with the creators if you want to find out more.

Anime reaction YouTubers are at war with copyright enforcers over a fundamental disagreement of what constitutes ‘fair use’.

Rather than back down, the YouTubers are ramping up the drama….

Here’s a glitch to file under ‘extremely annoying’…

YouTube is forcing some users to watch in glorious 480p like it’s the olden days.

Regular and Premium users have reported being affected. Let’s hope they fix it soon.

If you have the bug, why not take the opportunity to relive your younger days and watch ‘Charlie Bit My Finger’ again?

WTF is a B2B influencer? The Drum takes a look at this growing field…

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Also this week:

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More social stats:

A new report from Emplifi looks at the impact of brand/creator collab posts versus standard posts.

As you can see, the impact of accepting that collab is pretty stark!

Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk were reportedly part of a successful effort to persuade Donald Trump to reject a proposal for an AI regulator.

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Also spotted this week…

New features and tests:

A new book says it’s schooling, not phones behind teen mental health declines…

…and the author has some stern words for those trying to put the blame on social media.

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Also worth a read:

Apparently men are wearing Meta smart glasses on dates… and using them.

Way to be a walking red flag, guys!

Maybe just… leave them at home, at least on the first date, eh?

Matt will be back next week, so get ready for his holiday pics alongside another seven days of social news and discussion all in one place.

The question is… did he wear his Meta glasses to a rave and get out alive?

There’s only one way to find out. See you next week!

Goodbye, geeks!

– Martin