Yes, it is true that Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, has started testing a paid verification option for US users of the two social networks. The CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, announced the launch of Meta Verified on Instagram on Friday, with plans to gradually roll it out to more US users over the next few weeks.
Meta Verified was first tested in February in Australia and New Zealand and starts at $11.99 a month on the web or $14.99 a month on mobile. Along with verification, the option offers benefits such as extra protection from impersonation accounts and direct access to customer support.
To prevent fake accounts, customers who want to get the blue badge would need to provide a government ID that matches their profile name and picture. Users must also be above 18 to be eligible for the new service.
The move by Meta offers the promise of another revenue stream beyond advertising, which is a significant part of its core business. This comes at a time when its ad sales business is under pressure from various factors, including privacy changes on Apple and tightening budgets due to recession fears.
Other social media platforms, such as Discord, Reddit, and YouTube, have their own subscription-based models. Twitter also relaunched its own verification subscription service, Twitter Blue, in December, after a surge of fake "verified" accounts forced it to pull the feature. Twitter Blue costs $11 a month for iOS and Android subscribers and is part of owner Elon Musk's attempt to increase the subscriptions business after buying the platform for $44 billion
