Snapchat goes premium with Snapchat+: is this the start of social media subscriptions?
Snapchat is working on a tiered subscription service, named Snapchat+ that will allow paying users access to new features. A social media subscription service isn’t an entirely new idea. Twitter has waded into the idea with Twitter Blue, however, otherwise, it hasn’t been fully embraced, either by the users or other platforms, whereas concepts like short-form video content, stories, and shops are being passed around like wildfire. Twitter Blue’s most recent performance update doesn’t paint a promising picture. The subscription service resulted in a decrease of 31% year-over-year. It’s possible Snapchat’s attempt would do better, depending on what it actually offers the user.
So, what does Snapchat+ include?
At the moment, there are a few details on what Snapchat’s subscription service offers but they could be expanded upon. Right now, the subscription service offers access to exclusive icons, a new profile badge that shows you are a Snapchat+ user, new data insights, including the ability to see your friends’ location history over the past 24 hours, and, in a throwback to the days of MySpace, the ability to pin a user as your best friend.
What does Snapchat have to say?
In a statement, the popular social media platform explains, “We’re doing early internal testing of Snapchat+, a new subscription service for Snapchatters. We’re excited about the potential to share exclusive, experimental, and pre-release features with our subscribers, and learn more about how we can best serve our community.”