Using a new revenue stream that has had mixed results for smaller rival Twitter, Facebook-parent Meta has introduced a subscription service called Meta Verified that will allow users to add the coveted blue check mark to their Instagram and Facebook accounts for up to $15 a month by verifying their identity.
The subscription service costs $11.99 per month on the web or $14.99 on Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android, with initial rollouts beginning this week in New Zealand and Australia.
Users will be able to use their government-issued ID cards to prove their identification using Meta as well as “greater exposure and reach,” “better protection against impersonation threats,” and “direct access to customer assistance,” the firm claimed that the subscription service would provide.
According to Zuckerberg in a Facebook post, Meta Verified “is about boosting authenticity and security across our services.”
He stated that “additional countries shortly” would be added to the subscription service list without providing a timeframe. We’ve enquired further about Meta, and when we hear back, we’ll update this report.
Following Apple’s decision to implement strict privacy changes on iOS that limit the social firm’s ability to track users’ internet activities, Meta’s revenues have suffered in recent years.
For more than 15 years since its founding, Meta has chosen not to charge its customers for the majority of its services.
According to the Zuckerberg-led corporation, which derives almost all of its revenue from advertising, Apple’s decision will cost the business more than $10 billion in lost advertising revenue by 2022.
“Over time, our goal is to create a subscription service that benefits creators, companies, and the entire community.
We are changing the definition of the verified badge as part of this goal in order to increase access to verification and the confidence of users that the accounts they engage with are legitimate.
Social networking companies are increasingly using subscription services.
The announcement on Sunday comes after social media platform Snap introduced its own subscription service last year, through which it has already turned over a million users into paying customers, and Elon Musk redesigned Twitter Blue, the company’s subscription service, to offer a number of new features, including the blue check mark.
In recent months, Twitter has expanded Twitter Blue to more than a dozen regions, including India and Indonesia. According to The Information, just roughly 180,000 accounts have joined up for Twitter Blue as of mid-January.
Musk, an outspoken opponent of Facebook services, hopes to make Twitter Blue a significant source of revenue for Twitter, which he purchased for $44 billion last year.
He has previously said that anybody who obtained the blue tick mark without purchasing a Twitter Blue subscription will eventually lose it.
“Accounts on Instagram and Facebook that are already verified based on prior conditions, including authenticity and notability,” stated Meta, “will not alter as we test and learn.
The negative market reaction to Meta’s ambitious metaverse ambition has left the company reeling even though its shares have recently increased.
The business, which has slashed approximately 11,000 jobs over the last two months, has promised to spend less on its plans for the metaverse. Another round of layoffs is apparently planned very soon.
