Instagram Preparing Subscriber-Only ‘Exclusive Stories’

Instagram is readying an “Exclusive Stories” function similar to Twitter’s recently announced “Super Follow” feature, the website 9to5Mac reported on Wednesday (June 30).

Citing “reverse engineer and leaker Alessandro Paluzzi,” along with comments by Instagram in a TechCrunch piece, the story reported that the function will likely only be available for creators.

When a user interacts with a story on Instagram that’s open only to subscribers, Instagram will relay a message that says as much. When the creator shares their first-ever Exclusive story, Instagram will show this message:

“Well done on your first exclusive story! Save it as a highlight so fans always have something to see when they join.”

Instagram has apparently declined to say much about Exclusive Stories, telling TechCrunch that “the company is not at a place to talk about this project just yet.”

It’s not clear what subscribing to these stories would cost Instagram users. As PYMNTS reported last week, Super Follows on Twitter allows users to set monthly fees of $2.99, $4.99 or $9.99 to access exclusive content. Twitter will also choose a small group of users to pilot Super Follows and the platform’s other monetization offer, Ticket Spaces. This offering lets users set a fee of $1 to $999 to gain access to a social audio room. These testers will get to keep 97 percent of the funds they generate, after subtracting the charge that Android or iOS takes for in-app transactions.

As PYMNTS reported in April, Instagram is exploring other monetization options, including a marketplace that would match brands with creators whose work melds with their target market.

While many creators in social media are already getting paid for sponsored content, this effort would give Instagram a greater role in matching up-and-coming creators with brands. Instagram had also floated the idea of launching creator shops, which would let creators sell items to Instagram users directly through their profiles.