Now that Meta is rolling out the paid, ad-free subscription option in the EU, users are forced through a prompt to make a choice.
1. Pay for an ad-free Facebook or Instagram
2. Use them for free, but with ads
Some users are looking for a third option: Deactivate my account.
They seem to think that they are being forced to pay now. They’re not.
And Meta likely doesn’t even want you to pay. This is merely their way of providing an option to comply with regulators. You can just keep using those apps the way they always have, free and with ads.
Some users seem surprised to learn that their data is used for ad targeting. Some people complain about this while on TikTok, using the app for free because it is monetized with ads. Ads that target them based on their behavior.
Whether or not these reactions are rational doesn’t matter. This prompt that forces people to make a choice between paying and using Meta apps for free with ads is resulting in some users threatening to abandon the apps entirely.
Will it impact usage numbers? We’ll see with Meta’s Q4 financial report.