Meta-owned Instagram is reportedly testing a new monetization feature called ‘Gifts’. According to a report by TechCrunch, the feature will enable Instagram users to tip their favourite creators on the app. The tipping feature would enable creators to earn money through Reels. As of now the feature is an internal prototype and the photo sharing platform is not testing it externally, a company spokesperson said in an email to the website.
The feature was first spotted by popular app researcher Alessandro Paluzzi in July this year. Instagram was then developing the feature under the name ‘content appreciation’. He shared screenshots of the feature showing how it will allow creators to toggle an option to enable their fans to send them ‘Gifts’. Instagram creators will also start seeing a new Gifts tab in their settings where they can check if they are eligible for the feature or not. General users, on the other hand, will be able to send Gifts via a button that will appear at the bottom of Reels.
At present, Instagram has a Badges feature that allows users to show support to creators during a live video. Instagram Badges can cost $0.99, $1.99 and $4.99. Everytime a user purchases a badge during a live video, a heart icon appears next to their name in the comments. Badges was launched in 2020,
Instagram-rival TikTok too has its own tipping feature since December 2021. Microblogging platform Twitter launched a Tip Jar feature in May 2021.
In a related news, Instagram will soon begin testing the ‘repost’ feature for the feed which was missing from the app since its inception while being a core feature of Facebook, Twitter and even TikTok. However, it will not be available to all the users at the moment as Instagram plans to test this feature with a selected group of users to begin with.
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