Meta Verified Launches Paid Verification For Instagram And Facebook

Meta just launched it's own take on Twitter Blue. On his Instagram channel, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced Meta Verified, a subscription service that hawks a verified badge starting at $11.99 per month. Meta Verified will serve a verified badge to Instagram and Facebook users, with a few extra perks in tow. Zuckerberg says the new subscription service is "about increasing authenticity and security across our devices." The company will charge a monthly fee of $11.99 if you pay via the web.

For interested parties paying for Meta Verified from their iPhones, they will have to pay a slightly higher fee of $14.99 per month. Meta evidently wants users to pay the App Store tax from your own wallet. The strategy is not too different from what Twitter has put in place. Twitter Blue costs $8 per month if you make the payment via a web browser, but in-app payments from an iPhone will deduct $11 per month for a Twitter Blue subscription. 

Meta Verified will start rolling out this week for Facebook and Instagram users in Australia and New Zealand. It will be expanding to more regions soon, but Zuckerberg hasn't share a concrete rollout plan for the latter phase. Meta is the second major social media titan attempting to make extra cash with a subscription product, and selling a verified badge as the key feature. But unlike Twitter's brazen approach of pushing online importance at a price, Meta is taking a subtle route glazed with a few extras.

Zuckerberg's post notes that Meta Verified offers "extra protection from accounts claiming to be you." Moreover, subscribers will also get priority to customer support lines. That's a huge perk, considering the fact that getting back access to a hacked account has been a historical pain point for both Instagram and Facebook users. Plus, the system for appealing against a content strike for supposedly violating platform guidelines is also a pain in the neck. For now, it appears that the target beneficiaries for Meta Verified are businesses and individuals that stand to lose from impersonation.