Instagram has been busy with a string of initiatives lately to boost its social media platform and capitalize on monetization techniques. The latest of these is a new “Exclusive Stories” feature, which was discovered by reverse engineer and full-stack Android developer Alessandro Paluzzi. The code Paluzzi found shows the layout of the future option to post paywalled content, much like Twitter’s upcoming Super Follows feature. This will allow certain Instagram users to deliver paid content to fans who are paying a regular fee for access to it.
Although Instagram hasn’t made any official announcements regarding Exclusive Stories, they’ve acknowledged that it is something they’re working on after news of Paluzzi’s discovery spread. Public testing hasn’t started yet, nor have any details been released, as Instagram still seems to be preparing for an effective launch.
Тhe leaked screenshots of the “Exclusive Stories” feature show an advanced stage of development, which means that it’s sure to arrive to the platform sometime in the near future.
As per the screenshots, these paywalled posts will be set apart from regular stories by a marked purple color. And if you haven’t paid your dues to the creator yet, you will see a message across the story stating that “Only members of x can see this story.” Naturally, these exclusive stories will not be able to be screenshotted even by paid members.
Creators of Exclusive Stories will be prompted to share their story as a Highlight as well, so that “fans always have something to see when they join.”
There is currently no other information on Exclusive Stories circulating beyond this.
Alessandro Paluzzi has also caught on to a “collectibles” NFT feature, the details around which are even less clear as of yet. Essentially, it’s another way to allow Instagram users to sell certain virtual goods (NFTs, or non-fungible tokens) in exchange for money, increasing Instagram’s revenue as well.