Meta's subscription plans are the tip of a terrible pay-to-engage iceberg and may be the beginning of the end for social media as we know it

Unhappy.

This is how it starts. Someone adds the word "Plus" to a familiar service. Plus sounds like more, but somehow it's almost always a harbinger of less: less access, fewer features unless you pay. The collection of Plus-sized social media platforms — Facebook Plus, Instagram Plus, WhatsApp Plus — all cheerfully introduced this week by Meta's Head of Product Naomi Gleit, is, despite what Meta might claim, likely the first step in a short path to reduced access to the core features of these popular social media platforms.

Gleit positions the change in her Instagram video as "building value" and delivering "enhanced features that our community already loves."