Instagram now lets creators publish feed posts just for their subscribers

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

After getting off to a small start with paid subscriptions for creators, today is announcing more features to further build out the experience. Adam Mosseri said in a video that the platform aims to be the best place for creators to make a living and that the new additions are the result of feedback from creators who participated in the early phase of subscriptions.

Feed posts that are only visible to subscribers are the most significant new feature. In the past, creators could do this with stories, but now they can give their paying supporters access to exclusive, traditional social media posts. The top request the company has received is this one. The new "subscriber home" tab on creator profiles will allow subscribers to view the photos and reels that are only available to them.

A purple Badge is given to subscriber profiles that show their support of a creator. It is possible for creators to go live with their subscribers. They will be able to chat with up to 30 people at the same time.

Mosseri acknowledges that the company needs to expand to other regions after gradually ramping up subscriptions and opening them to tens of thousands of creators in the US He said in the video that this is just the beginning of a long path to provide creators with a whole range of tools to be able to make a living online. This one is exciting for us.

A full-screen feed is one of the changes being worked on by the company. Mosseri has said that it will likely be many months before this redesign makes its way to everyone, and that it will respond to feedback from photographers as it works to refine the new, video-optimized feed. The company brought back a chronological feed earlier this year for users who want more control over how the app is used.