Telegram is testing paid posts to help creators monetise their content: Here’s how it works | Digit

Earlier this year, the popular instant messaging service Telegram released a Premium subscription model. As a part of the subscription, Telegram offers exclusive features to users, such as the ability to follow more channels and download files at the fastest speed possible. Most recently, Telegram has been spotted experimenting with paid messages and media, a feature that could enable several content creators to monetise their work on the platform. A report by 9To5Mac tells us that Telegram is testing paid posts.

Here is how paid posts could look on Telegram

As seen in the screenshots shared by Matt Navarra, paid posts seemed to be locked behind a paywall. The posts could include images, videos and even text messages, and they can only be viewed once a user pays the mentioned amount through a button at the centre. 

Otherwise, the video and image previews are blurred out, and messages are collapsed. The report mentions, “paying to access individual posts could also become a simple way to gauge interest in a creator’s work, helping them gather funds for small-to-medium-scale projects, or rally support for social causes.”

The platform is looking for ways to help creators monetise their content

In a post, Telegram’s CEO Pavel Durov said that “some content creators started using third-party payment bots to sell access to individual posts in their Telegram channels.” This way, they could receive close to 100% of what their subscribers paid. However, Cupertino-based tech giant Apple raised this issue with Telegram, saying that it has a problem with creators monetising their work without paying a 30% tax to Apple. 

Hence, Telegram had to disable the bots on iOS devices. Adding to his statement, Durov says, “this is just another example of how a trillion-dollar monopoly abuses its market dominance at the expense of millions of users who are trying to monetise their own content.”

In the past, apps like Fortnite were unlisted from the Apple App Store for not following payment-related guidelines. Although something like this should not happen with Telegram, there is nothing wrong with the platform looking for ways to help creators monetise their content. If paid posts become a thing on Telegram, other social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and even WhatsApp will likely follow. 

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