Anew subscription service that would let Facebook and Instagram users pay for a verified account is currently being tested by Meta.
Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Meta, revealed Meta Verified on his social media channels on Sunday. According to him, testing will start this week in Australia and New Zealand and spread to other nations soon.
Meta will use a government identity to authenticate a user’s account and grant the account a blue badge for USD 11.99 per month on the web or USD 14.99 per month on Apple and Android operating systems. Traditionally, Meta’s blue badges were given away only to well-known individuals or organisations.
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According to Meta, subscribers would also have additional security against account impersonation and direct access to customer care.
“This new feature is about increasing authenticity and security across our services,” Zuckerberg said in his message.
Previous verified public figures won’t be affected
Meta said public figures and others who were previously verified won’t be affected by the change. Meta Verified is aimed at influencers and others who use social media for their business but aren’t notable public figures.
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Meta following Twitter’s footstep
Meta is taking a page from Twitter’s playbook in launching a subscription service. Late last year, Twitter began charging users $8 per month for Twitter Blue, which verifies their account with a blue check.
On Saturday, Twitter took the service a step further, announcing that Twitter users would lose their ability to secure their accounts with two-factor authentication unless they pay the USD 8 monthly Twitter Blue subscription.
Social media companies have been trying to find new revenue sources as online advertising slows. Earlier this month, Meta announced its third consecutive quarter of revenue declines despite an increase in users. Meta announced it was laying off 11,000 workers, or 13% of its workforce, in November.
