It’s clear that big tech companies are going through a tough time. We can talk about the situation on Twitter, the fact that Phil Shiller has already closed his account or the large number of layoffs that had to perform both Twitter and Facebook (something Steve Jobs also had to deal with), but let’s focus on Facebook. Specifically in its plans to monetize WhatsApp after its metaverse debacle.
Recall that “Metaverse” is a word that will never be used at Apple, and it seems that Zuckerberg’s investors would not want to hear it either, since he has become a bottomless pit for facebook money
Changes for business customers first, then…
As reported in Reuters, Zuckerberg claims that “the next big pillar of our business” is messaging apps. We are talking about WhatsApp, but also about Facebook Messenger, which at the moment does not bring much benefit, but could do so soon with some changes to the platform.
Zuckerberg didn’t give exact details on the platform’s specific monetization strategy, but he’s given several moves in the past that, along with the iPhone app betas available, give us some hints of what might happen. Currently, business customers, i.e. those using WhatsApp Business, already have to pay when they exceed a sent message limit, but it could go further.
As we know from the app betas, WhatsApp is working on a paid subscription with advanced business features. These are functions oriented towards professional profiles, which is why they only reach WhatsApp Business, but nothing prevents them from making the leap to other users.
For now, a professional subscription.
As far as we know, these are not restrictions on the use of the service, nor a subscription to be able to use WhatsApp, but small, very in line with what Telegram offers or what Twitter Blue represents for Twitter. A path that could well reach WhatsApp and that would encourage us to pay a certain amount in exchange for these functions that we see that some users use.
Here the network effect is quite large and, although the changes are minor compared to those who do not pay the subscription, Facebook can benefit a lot from the movement. More now than WhatsApp is working to turn the app into a sort of WeChat, the great Chinese application. In some countries, WhatsApp already allows you to make online purchases, buy metro tickets and even pay in stores via WhatsApp Pay.
For the moment we are only confronted with explanations and intentions, but with the speed at which this industry is changing, sooner or later we could consider paying a subscription to do more with WhatsApp. The idea is that it reaches business customers sooner, but with Facebook’s disaster with the metaverse, who knows.