Facebook And Instagram Will Soon Offer Paid Verification

Users of Instagram and Facebook will soon be able to purchase a blue tick verification, according to parent company Meta. The monthly fee for Meta Verified is $11.99 (£9.96) for web users and $14.99 for iPhone users.

This week, it will be accessible in Australia and New Zealand. The move, according to CEO of Meta Mark Zuckerberg, would increase reliability and security on social media apps.

The action was taken after Twitter's owner, Elon Musk, launched the premium Twitter Blue subscription in November 2022.

Businesses are not yet able to use Meta's paid subscription service, but individuals can pay for verification. High-profile accounts have been given badges, often known as "blue ticks," to verify their authenticity.

According to a post on Meta's website, the subscription would grant paying users a blue badge, more visibility for their posts, protection from impersonators, and simpler access to customer care.

According to the company, the change won't affect accounts that have already been verified, but it will make some smaller users who utilise the paid feature become certified more visible.

Other social media networks have previously faced problems when allowing paying users access to a blue tick.

When people started using Twitter's pay-for-verification feature to pose as well-known brands and celebrities and pay for the badge, the feature was halted in November of last year.

According to Meta, users' Facebook and Instagram usernames must match those on a government-issued ID document in order to be granted verification, and they must have a profile picture with their face in it.

Like Reddit, YouTube, and Discord, other websites also adopt subscription-based business structures.

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.

Mr. Zuckerberg stated at the time that he had anticipated an increase in Meta's growth given on the spike it had over the pandemic, but that prediction ultimately did not come true. He added, "Many people predicted this would be a permanent acceleration,"

He said that "macroeconomic downturn" and "increased competition" caused revenue to be much lower than expected. "I got this wrong, and I take responsibility for that,"