Meta Verified will be costing $11.99 a month on the web, while $14.99 for iPhone users, and will be made available to users in Australia and New Zealand starting this week.
According to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, this act will aid to the security and authenticity on social networking sites and apps. This move comes right after Twitter announced its premium Twitter Blue subscription to its users, which was implemented from November 2022.
Although Meta’s paid subscription is not yet made available for businesses, interested individuals can subscribe and pay for verification.
All You Need to Know About the “Blue Ticks”
Badges or “blue ticks” are offered as a verification tool to users who are high-profiled or signify their authenticity. According to a post on Meta's website:
- The subscription would grant paying users a blue badge, more visibility for their postings, protection from impersonators, and simpler access to customer service.
- This change would not affect accounts that have already been verified, but it will make some smaller users who utilize the paid function to become certified more visible.
- According to Meta, users' Facebook and Instagram usernames must match those on a government-issued ID document in order to receive verification, and they must have a profile picture with their face in it.
Many other platforms such as Reddit, YouTube and Discord possess similar subscription-based models.
Although Mr. Zuckerberg stated in a post that it would happen "soon," Meta has not yet defined when the feature will be made available in other nations.
"As part of this vision, we are evolving the meaning of the verified badge so we can expand access to verification and more people can trust the accounts they interact with are authentic," Meta's press release read.
This announcement of Meta charging for verification was made following the loss faced by the company of more than $600 billion in market value last year.
For the last three quarters in a row, the company has recorded year-over-year revenue declines, but the most recent report might indicate that circumstances are starting to change.
This act will eventually aid Meta to meet its goal, which was to focus on “efficiency” to recover, since the company’s sudden fall in revenue made it to cut costs by laying off 13% of its workforce (11,000 employees) in November and consolidated office buildings.
