Instagram stalking is no longer private.
Instagram has launched a new premium feature, Instagram Plus, for $3.99 a month—marketing the subscription as a way to “help you express yourself, connect deeper with friends, and customize your experience in new ways.”
The monthly subscription offers users exclusive perks and features on the app.
While the feature was designed to “broaden the digital reach,” backlash has mounted over claims that the new offerings exploit digital addiction and are a price paid to “drive people crazy.”
Features include extending 24-hour stories to stay visible for longer and pushing them to the top of users’ feeds, alongside “expressive reactions” so friends can show “extra support” in direct messages.
The new Story Rewatch Count feature shows how many times your story was replayed, while the Search Viewer Sheet allows you to quickly check if a specific person saw your post.
Meanwhile, Story Preview lets users peek at someone’s story without appearing on their viewer list.
There are also features that help hide actions from other users, including posting to your profile or highlights without appearing in friends’ feeds. While previewing stories secretly allows users to view content without the pressure to react, it prevents the creator from seeing who actually watched it.
Social media users are deeming the subscription a “new low,” giving users the capability to drive themselves crazy for $3.99 a month.
“If what you love is the ability to more conveniently keep tabs on crushes or enemies—by which I mean torture yourself—then Instagram nailed it,” ranted one Reddit user, adding that the feature encourages obsessive tendencies.
TikToker @suhaadada conducted what she called a “social experiment” to test Instagram Plus, concluding it made her “ready to never use Instagram again.”
She particularly criticized the Story Rewatch insight, which displays a rewatch glyph next to the viewer count when someone watches a story multiple times.
“This could be someone swiping through at a fast glimpse and seeing something that interested them enough to go back,” she explained.
“It tries to manipulate you into thinking that a viewer rewatch means more than what it actually is.”
The feature also provides timestamps for when someone first viewed a story, updating if they return to rewatch it.
Critics argue these updates allow companies to profit at the expense of user mental health.
“At the expense of your own mental health as you start to wonder why someone is jumping to the top of your viewer list so much,” said the TikToker, noting that non-subscribers won’t know who has Instagram Plus or that their viewing habits are being tracked—meaning subscribers are paying to access user behavior that “should be kept private.”
“If you have Instagram plus stay away from me,” one commenter quipped.
Others warn that paid features are just the beginning, theorizing Meta will eventually charge users for overall access across its platforms.
“Meta is slowly killing what used to be good,” one user lamented.
