Meta To Launch US$11.99 Subscription Service For Verified Accounts

(CTN NEWS) – A new subscription service that would enable Facebook and Instagram users to pay for a verified account is being tested by Meta.

Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Meta, revealed the Verified service 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.

At $14.99 per month on Apple and Android operating systems or $11.99 on the web, Company will use a user’s government identification to verify their account and provide them a blue badge.

Traditionally, blue badges were given away only to well-known individuals or organizations.

According to the comapny, subscribers would also have additional security against account impersonation and direct access to customer care.

In his statement, Zuckerberg stated that the goal of the new feature was to “increase authenticity and security across our services.”

Meta Taking The Lead

According to Meta, the adjustment will not apply to verified individuals or public figures. Influencers and other social media users who run their businesses but aren’t well-known public figures are the target audience for Verified.

By announcing a subscription service, Meta is following Twitter’s lead. Twitter started charging users $8 a month for Twitter Blue, which validates accounts with a blue check, in the latter part of last year.

Twitter went one step further with the service on Saturday, revealing that users who don’t pay the $8 per month for Twitter Blue will no longer be able to safeguard their accounts with two-factor authentication.

Social media companies have been looking for alternative revenue streams as online advertising slows. This month, despite increased users, Meta reported its third consecutive quarter of revenue decreases.

In November, Meta announced that 11,000 employees, or 13% of the workforce, would be let go.

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