Report: Facebook Testing ‘Subscriber Only’ Posts

Facebook is apparently testing a new option that would let users limit access to their posts to subscribers only for a set period after publishing.

As Social Media Today reported Wednesday (Sept. 28), some users can access an ‘Early Access for Subscribers’ option in their post settings, which lets them restrict access to that post for a chosen period of time: 24 hours, 48 hours, or a week.

The report noted that users would need to have subscribers first to appreciate this new feature, and argues it could be a useful tool as Facebook owner Meta Platforms pushes to make itself more enticing to creators to keep them — and their fans — using its apps.

See also: Facebook Pivots From News Coverage to Creator Economy

PYMNTS reported in July, Meta has begun shifting engineering and product efforts to help build a more robust Creator economy.

Learn more: Meta Eases Adding and Switching Between Facebook, Instagram Accounts

Earlier this week, Meta announced it was rolling out features to let Facebook and Instagram users switch easily between multiple accounts and profiles and keep their accounts secure.

The social media giant said this will help people who use more than one app, account or profile to pursue interests, reach audiences or share different aspects of their lives.

Meanwhile, Meta is launching a new account registration and login flow to make it easier to log in or create new accounts. Meta said the features are intended to make it clear and easy to use its apps in a streamlined manner.

Read more: Report: Users Still Spending 10x Time on TikTok Than Instagram Reels

The company said it will make account security and privacy a priority. For example, if someone uses two-factor authentication for Facebook, an unrecognized device won’t be able to access their Facebook account with Instagram account information.

Earlier this month, reports emerged that said Meta’s attempt to keep pace with the popularity of TikTok by promoting short-form videos called Reels on Instagram have fallen short.

Reels is Meta’s fastest growing format for content, but the amount of time Instagram users spend watching it is less than 10% of the time TikTok users spend on that platform.