Instagram Plus: A Paid Subscription Layer for Creators and Brands

In a move that signals a new era for the platform, Instagram has launched Instagram Plus, a $3.99/month optional subscription tier. This isn’t just a cosmetic upgrade — it unlocks exclusive Stories features and enhanced analytics that could change how marketers approach organic reach.

For businesses, the key draw is the ability to offer subscriber-only Stories. Think behind-the-scenes content, early access to product drops, or exclusive Q&As. This creates a direct revenue stream and builds deeper loyalty. But there’s a catch: you’ll need to consistently produce content that feels worth the price tag. A one-off exclusive won’t cut it.

The subscription also includes a verified badge (pending review) and priority support. For marketers, the real value lies in the data — detailed insights on subscriber engagement that can inform broader content strategies.

User-Controlled Algorithms: Putting the Power Back in Your Hands

One of the most talked-about updates is the ability for users to control how their feed is sorted. No longer are you stuck with a mysterious algorithm deciding what you see. Now, you can toggle between “Favorites” (showing only posts from accounts you choose) and “Following” (chronological order from everyone you follow).

For marketers, this is a double-edged sword. On one hand, it means your most engaged followers can choose to see your content first. On the other hand, casual followers may never see your posts if they stick with the default algorithmic feed. The takeaway? Invest in building a core audience that will manually add you to their Favorites list. That means stronger calls-to-action, exclusive perks, and consistent value.

This shift also forces a rethink of hashtag strategy. With users filtering their feeds, hashtag discovery becomes even more critical for reaching new eyes. Instagram hashtag research should now be a weekly priority.

Episodic Reels: A New Format for Serialized Content

Instagram is testing episodic Reels, allowing creators to post multi-part video series. Think of it as a mini-TV show within the app. Each episode can be up to 90 seconds, and viewers can subscribe to the series to get notified when a new part drops.

This is a massive opportunity for brands. Instead of one-off viral hits, you can now build narrative arcs that keep viewers coming back. A fashion brand could run a “7 Days of Outfit Ideas” series. A cooking channel could release “5-Minute Meals” weekly. The serialized format encourages repeat visits and higher retention.

But there’s a strategic nuance: each episode must stand alone while also hooking viewers into the larger story. If a new user discovers part 3, they should still get value. Marketers need to plan storyboards with clear entry points for new viewers.

How to Optimize Episodic Reels for Discovery

• Use a consistent thumbnail style — make your series instantly recognizable in the feed.
• Include episode numbers in the video or caption to avoid confusion.
• Cross-promote previous episodes in the comments or via Stories.
• Leverage the subscribe button — encourage viewers to follow the series, not just your account.

Stories Features That Go Beyond the 24-Hour Window

Instagram is also expanding Stories capabilities. The most notable addition is “Stories Highlights” that can now include interactive elements like polls, quizzes, and countdowns — features previously limited to live Stories. This means your evergreen Highlights can now be dynamic, not static.

For marketers, this is a goldmine. A product launch countdown can live in your profile permanently. A “This or That” poll in a Highlight can gather ongoing feedback. The key is to update Highlights regularly to keep them fresh and engaging.

Another under-the-radar feature is “Stories Insights” for business accounts. You can now see which specific Stories drove the most profile visits or website clicks. This data lets you refine your content mix — doubling down on what works and cutting what doesn’t. Pair this with Instagram Stories analytics for a complete picture.

What This Means for Your 2024 Marketing Strategy

These updates collectively point to a platform that’s becoming more fragmented — and more intentional. The days of a one-size-fits-all algorithmic feed are fading. Marketers now have to earn attention through subscriptions, series, and interactive Stories.

Here are three action steps to take today:

1. Audit your current content — identify which pieces could be repackaged as a series or exclusive subscriber content.
2. Test the Favorites feature — ask your top followers to add you to their list. Offer a small incentive like a discount code.
3. Plan a 3-part Reel series — start small. A simple “how-to” in three parts can test the episodic format without overwhelming your team.

The bottom line? Instagram is betting that users want more control and deeper connections. Marketers who adapt — by creating subscription-worthy content and serialized stories — will win in this new landscape.

What is Roost? A messaging app built on bird flight times

Somewhere above the Great Plains right now, a virtual woodpecker is flapping its way toward Alaska, carrying a message from me to an anonymous pen pal. Meanwhile, a zebra finch named Tucker is winging into Manhattan to deliver my terrible Cool S doodle to a friend. These messages take hours — sometimes days — to arrive, depending on how far the bird has to fly. That’s the whole point.

Roost, the so-called “slow-cial” app, is making carrier pigeons cool again. At a moment when people are exhausted by apps that demand constant attention, Roost deliberately adds friction. Founder Logan Mendelsohn, a senior product manager in trust and safety at Ticketmaster, told TechCrunch: “Everything on a phone is instantaneous these days — every single thing you do, it’s like you’re always getting some notification or something. Roost is kind of a break from the instant. It’s resonating with people in a way where they don’t feel pressure all the time to have to do something.”

The app lets you choose four birds for your rookery. Each bird moves at its real-life speed: a falcon delivers fast; a hummingbird, not so much. If you really want to drag things out, you can send snails or turtles instead. Messages travel in literal bird time. It’s weird. It’s charming. And it’s catching on.

From side project to viral sensation — 300,000 users in weeks

Mendelsohn started building Roost as a fun project for himself and his friends. They loved it so much they pushed him to put it on the App Store. For a while, it had a tiny, devoted following. Then a mother posted on Threads about how her daughter was chatting with friends in Elizabethan English on an app where messages move at the speed of actual birds.

Within three days, Roost went from 10,000 users to 100,000. Now, about five weeks later, it’s approaching 300,000. “The people are what really make this platform,” Mendelsohn said. “What people kept talking about is how wholesome it is, how whimsical it is, and how much this really helps them put more intention into what they’re saying. There’s a lot less pressure when you know the message isn’t going to someone immediately.”

Privacy built in, not bolted on

Mendelsohn works in trust and safety by day. He knows any social platform — even a whimsical bird app — can be abused. So Roost shares only a user’s city with friends by default. There’s a manual “close friends” feature that lets you share your precise location with specific people if you choose. “I personally think that for any new platform that connects people, trust and safety should be the first thing they think about,” Mendelsohn said. “When you’re able to start at zero with that lens, you can build it into the platform instead of doing it later.”

Privacy concerns also shaped the “Pen Pals” feature, which lets you exchange messages with anonymous users in your age group. During onboarding, the app explicitly warns you not to share personal details or contact info. Roost deliberately doesn’t support photo sharing yet — Mendelsohn wants to build more sophisticated content moderation tools first. That kind of caution is rare in the fast-ship world of consumer apps.

Mini games and bird collecting — the slow life has layers

Roost isn’t just about waiting for messages. There are mini games. There’s bird collecting. The whole experience is designed to be playful and unhurried. It’s a reminder that not every app needs to optimize for engagement at all costs. Sometimes you just want to send a doodle on a virtual sparrow and wait a few hours for a reply.

The AI art controversy — and how Mendelsohn handled it

Roost’s rapid growth brought an unexpected backlash. When users learned Mendelsohn had used AI-generated art for the bird images, they were furious. “On the AI art side, I completely understood the feedback,” he said. “I won’t lie, it was daunting to see the reaction online. But I don’t think it’s productive to dig your heels in when your community is vocal about something they care for. At the same time, I also knew I couldn’t flip a switch overnight. Replacing the art in an app this size takes time, planning, and money.”

Mendelsohn runs Roost in his spare time, with no outside funding. Revenue comes from in-app purchases like extra birds. To address the complaints, he’s now running a contest for artists to contribute original art. That’s quieted things for now, but the situation highlights a real tension in the consumer app space: many users boycott AI art out of respect for human creators, but a solo founder with limited resources can’t always afford to commission custom illustrations from day one. “As a solo founder, I don’t think I could build and maintain something at this scale without AI-assisted development,” Mendelsohn said. “But every product decision and direction for Roost still comes from me and the community.”

Why Roost matters in a world of instant everything

Roost is part of a small but growing wave of apps that reject the dopamine-loop model. It’s a “slow-cial” app in the truest sense — it forces you to wait, to think, to be intentional. In an era of push notifications and infinite scroll, that’s almost radical. It’s also a reminder that the people flocking to Roost are often the same ones who are tired of the tech industry’s relentless pace. They want something slower. Something more human. Even if it means waiting for a virtual bird to cross a continent.

Why Your Current AI Workflow Is Probably Broken

If you’ve ever found yourself copying text from ChatGPT, pasting it into a document, then manually feeding that output into another tool — you’re not alone. That tedious loop is the reality for most knowledge workers today. You’re using AI, sure, but you’re still the human middleman.

There’s a better way. It’s called an agentic workflow, and the tool that’s making it accessible to non-developers is Manus. Instead of you orchestrating every step, you tell Manus what you want done, and it hands off the subtasks to specialized AI agents. No more copy-paste. No more babysitting.

In this guide, you’ll learn how to set up your first agentic workflow with Manus — and finally let the machines do the grunt work.

What Is an Agentic Workflow, Really?

An agentic workflow is a sequence of automated steps where an AI agent decides which tool or sub-agent to call next based on the task. Think of it like a project manager who doesn’t just assign work but also checks back, adjusts, and hands off results to the next specialist.

With Manus, you define the overall goal — say, “Research competitors, summarize their pricing, and draft an email to the sales team” — and the platform breaks it down. It might call a web-scraping agent first, then a summarization model, then a writing agent. You just review the final output.

This is fundamentally different from a chatbot that gives you a single answer. It’s a system that acts on your behalf across multiple domains.

Getting Started with Manus: What You Need

Before you dive in, make sure you have:

• An active Manus account (free tier available with limited credits)
• Access to at least one external tool API (e.g., SerpAPI for web search, or a database connector)
• A clear, single-sentence goal for your first workflow

Manus works best when you start small. Don’t try to automate your entire marketing funnel on day one. Pick one repetitive task — like pulling daily news mentions for your brand — and build from there.

Step-by-Step: Building Your First Agentic Workflow with Manus

1. Define the Trigger and the End Result

Every workflow starts with a trigger. It could be a scheduled time, a webhook from a CRM, or a manual launch. Then define the output: a Slack message, a Google Doc, an email. Be specific. “Send me a daily briefing” is vague. “Send a Slack message every weekday at 8 AM with three news articles about my competitor” is actionable.

Inside Manus, you create a new workflow and name it. Then you add the trigger node.

2. Chain Your Tools Together

Manus uses a visual node editor. You drag and drop blocks representing different agents or API calls. For example:

• Node 1: Search the web for “competitor news” using SerpAPI
• Node 2: Pass the top 5 results to an AI summarizer
• Node 3: Format the summary into a Slack message

The magic is in the handoff. Manus automatically passes the output of Node 1 into Node 2. You don’t write any glue code. Just connect the nodes.

3. Set Conditions and Fallbacks

Real-world workflows fail. A search API might return no results. An AI summarizer might timeout. Manus lets you add conditional branches: “If no results found, send me a notification instead of a summary.” This prevents your workflow from breaking silently.

You can also set retry logic. If an agent fails, Manus can retry twice before escalating to you.

4. Test and Iterate

Run your workflow in test mode. Manus shows you the output of each node in real time. This is where you catch mistakes. Maybe the summarizer is too verbose. Maybe the Slack message format is ugly. Tweak the prompts in each node until the output feels right.

Once it’s solid, schedule it or connect it to your live tools.

Real-World Use Cases for Agentic Workflows with Manus

Here are three practical applications you can build today:

Automated Competitor Monitoring

Set a daily search for mentions of your top three competitors. Manus scrapes the results, has an AI agent rank them by relevance, and posts the top five to a shared Slack channel. Your team wakes up to intelligence, not noise.

Lead Qualification from Inbound Forms

When a new lead fills out a form on your site, a webhook triggers a Manus workflow. The platform enriches the lead data using a public API, scores it with a custom AI model, and if the score is high, emails the sales rep with a summary — all within seconds.

Content Repurposing Pipeline

Publish a blog post? Feed the URL into Manus. The workflow extracts the text, has an agent rewrite it as a LinkedIn post, another agent creates a Twitter thread, and a third generates an email summary for subscribers. One input, multiple outputs, zero manual formatting.

Common Pitfalls and How to Avoid Them

The biggest mistake new users make is overcomplicating the first workflow. Start with three nodes max. Add complexity only when the simple version is running reliably.

Another trap: not respecting API rate limits. If your workflow calls an external service 100 times per minute, you’ll hit errors. Manus doesn’t throttle third-party APIs for you — so build in delays between nodes if needed.

Finally, don’t forget security. If your workflow handles customer data or internal documents, make sure the connected tools use HTTPS and that you’ve set proper access controls inside Manus. The last thing you want is an agent accidentally emailing a draft to the wrong person.

Is Manus the Right Tool for You?

Manus isn’t for everyone. If you only need a chatbot to answer questions, stick with ChatGPT. But if you’re tired of being the human glue between AI tools, Manus offers a genuinely different approach. It’s closer to a lightweight automation platform than a traditional AI assistant.

The learning curve is mild — expect to spend an afternoon building your first real workflow. After that, you’ll start seeing every repetitive task as a candidate for automation. And that’s the point. Let the agents work. You’ve got better things to do.