Meta will soon introduce a paid subscription for officially verifying user accounts and accessing additional services. In doing so, the company behind Facebook and Instagram is following the policy Twitter previously announced for its blue checkmarks.
In a statement, CEO Mark Zuckerberg indicated that users will now have to pay if they want their accounts officially verified. Users can use the new subscription service, Meta Verified, to verify their Facebook or Instagram account(s) with a government-issued ID and thus receive a blue verification badge.
This paid verification should give users more protection against (parody) accounts posing as their accounts and direct access to customer support from the social media giant. Also, the paid service should improve all authentication and security of Meta’s social media platforms.
Access to more options
In addition, subscribers to Meta Verified will get more visibility and outreach options. Verified accounts will appear more prominently in searches, comments and recommendations. Subscribers also get exclusive options to express themselves in “unique ways. What these latter options are was not disclosed.
Process justifies subscription
According to Zuckerberg, account verification is important for all of his company’s social media platforms. This is already done widely, but verifying precisely government-issued IDs, which provide the best authentication of individuals, is a time-consuming and expensive task for Meta. This, according to the CEO, justifies a subscription service. Moreover, by seeing how many people sign up for it, Zuckerberg said, quality would be more guaranteed.
Meta Verified costs $11.99 a month for the web application and $14.99 a month for the Android or iOS app. The service is already rolling out in Australia and New Zealand this week. Other countries will follow later.
Paid authentication service Twitter
With the introduction of the paid verification service, Meta follows Twitter, which previously introduced Twitter Blue at the behest of owner Elon Musk. The subscription service costs $8 per month. This service is not really different from that of the announced Meta , but the latter does feature customer service access. This is not the case with Twitter.
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