Meta, the parent company, has announced that Instagram and Facebook users will now be able to pay for a blue tick verification. On the web, Meta Verified will cost $11.99 per month, while iPhone users will pay $14.99. This week, it will be available in New Zealand and Australia.
The move, according to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, will boost authenticity and security on social media apps. The move follows Elon Musk’s introduction of the premium Twitter Blue subscription in November 2022, when he is the owner of Twitter.
Businesses cannot yet use Meta’s paid subscription service, but anyone can pay for verification. High-profile accounts have utilized badges, or blue ticks, as verification tools to demonstrate their authenticity.
Meta said in a post on their website that paying subscribers would receive a blue badge, increased visibility for their posts, protection from impersonators, and easier access to customer service.
The company told the BBC that the change would not affect accounts that had already been verified. However, the company said that the paid feature would make it easier for some smaller users to get verified. Other social media platforms have had issues in the past when they allowed paying users access to a blue tick.
Meta stated that in order to receive verification, Instagram and Facebook usernames must match a government-issued ID, and users must have a profile picture that includes their face. Subscription-based models are used by Reddit, YouTube, and Discord, among others.
Although Mark Zuckerberg stated in a post that it would be soon, Meta has not yet specified when the feature will be rolled out to other nations. During the Covid-19 pandemic, the company made the announcement in November that it would be cutting 11,000 jobs due to excessive investment.
Mark Zuckerberg stated at the time that he had predicted an increase in Meta’s growth based on its rise over the pandemic, but that did not ultimately occur. He did too, so he made the decision to significantly increase their investments, and many people predicted this would be a permanent acceleration.
