Meta officially announces payment for account verification on Instagram and Facebook in the United States, following the trend set on Twitter by Elon Musk
With Twitter , Elon Musk opened up a juicy opportunity for social media companies: charging monthly to verify an account and add a blue check to users who wish to identify themselves as “official.” After Twitter Blue , it is now Meta that makes official a project that had been in the making for a few months : payment for account verification arrives on Instagram and Facebook.
Mark Zuckerberg himself , CEO of Meta, has been responsible for making the subscription verification program official on both platforms for the United States, after being enabled in Australia and New Zealand. In this case, Americans who want to verify their accounts with “Meta Verified” will have to pay $11.99 on the web and $14.99 from phones, a higher amount due to the 30% commission that Google and Apple receive in their app stores. per micro transaction.
“Meta Verified is already rolling out in the United States starting today. You will be able to have a badge, active protection against impersonators and direct access to customer support”, Zuckerberg mentioned in a statement.
For the moment, the Meta program proposes a waiting list for users interested in the service, available only to people over 18 years of age. The system requires a verification process that includes, among other data, photos of personal documents to prove that users are who they say they are.
Is there something exclusive with Meta Verified?
There are a few additional details regarding enrollment in the “Meta Verified” program. To get started, users need to enable two-step verification on each of the networks they apply for. On the other hand, subscribers will not be able to change their profile name, photo, username or date of birth on their own, but will have to go through a new verification process for security reasons.
This monthly payment enables certain exclusive functions, a business model that Telegram and other companies already implement to increase their attractiveness. Benefits include 100 monthly stars to support content creators on platforms, exclusive stickers for stories and reels, as well as better positioning of content against posts from friends and “free” accounts.
If you live in the United States, New Zealand or Australia, you can sign up from the Instagram or Facebook settings and click on “Account Center”, where you will find a “Meta Verified available” sign under the name and profile photo. Then, you will need to add a payment method for the annual plan and proceed to verification.