Facebook and Instagram are undoubtedly two of Meta’s great values. It is true that the image of the former is far from what it was in its early years, in what we can call the age of innocence of social networks, when many (I am the first) were happy to share all types of content. Revelations about security flaws, unauthorized use of information and more turned many profiles, which at the time were updated several times a day, into completely abandoned spaces.

Instagram isn’t doing the best either, especially since its plans to create an Instagram for kids came out a few months later, and that Meta knew about Instagram’s harmful effects on minors. In addition, although at the time it was known as the social network of reference for younger people, while Facebook was the choice of an older audience, This position was taken first by Snapchat and later by TikTok.

However, this should not confuse us, Facebook and Instagram are still very, very used today. According to StatCounter in September 2023 Facebook has accumulated no less than 65.24% of social network usageand Instagram was second with 13.31%. After years in lower positions, Instagram succeeded in surpassing Twitter in March of this year and has been holding the second position ever since. Thus, Meta services currently occupy the first and second positions in the social network market and added 78.55% market share last September.

Source: StatCounter Global Stats – Social Media Market Share

A common headache for Meta, yes, is European regulations to the extent that at the time it was in danger of leaving the common European space, although it only took one day to back down (take note, Elon Musk), which required it to make several changes in their services. And as a result, today we find another one, published on her official blog, where we can read it Meta will offer Facebook and Instagram without ads, with a monthly fee, in the European Union and Switzerland.

The cost of the subscription, which, as is clear from the text, will be extended to all linked accounts in the User Account Center will be 9.99 euros if the contract is concluded via the website, or 12.99 euros for users who closed it through the Android and iOS apps. Of course, they note that this “all accounts” is temporary, as from March 1, 2024, each additional account listed will be charged an additional €6 per month on the web and €8 per month on iOS and Android in the Account Center. This means that from this moment on, if you want the service to not show you advertising on both social networks, you will have to pay between 15.99 and 20.99 euros per month, depending on where you contract these plans.

With this new feature, Meta complies with the GDPR regulatory framework (as stated in the mentioned publication), so it will be able to continue to offer both Facebook and Instagram under the same conditions as before, as it allows ad-free subscriptions. fulfill the obligation to offer an alternative without using personal data of users for commercial purposes. Will it employ many people? I have very serious doubts about that, but in any case I think this is a smart move by Meta.as this move takes some of the regulatory pressure off and may even improve (albeit very slightly) the monetization of Facebook and Instagram.