Meta is launching a subscription service that, for a monthly fee, allows Facebook and Instagram users to get verified, chairman and CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced Sunday.
“This week we’re starting to roll out Meta Verified — a subscription service that lets you verify your account with a government ID, get a blue badge, get extra impersonation protection against accounts claiming to be you and get direct access to customer support,” Zuckerberg said in a statement posted on Facebook. “This new feature is about increasing authenticity and security across our services.”
Meta Verified starts at $11.99/month on the web or $14.99/month on iOS. It will be rolled out and tested in Australia and New Zealand this week with more countries added in increments.
Shares of Meta Platforms skyrocketed 20% at the opening bell earlier this month after the Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp parent posted better-than-expected results for the fourth quarter and Zuckerberg promised that 2023 would be a “year of efficiency.” Wall Street cheered Zuckerberg’s promise for a newfound focus on containing costs this year, pledging for expenses to fall between $89 billion and $95 billion for the year, from $87.66 billion in 2022.
This new paid verification service comes on the heels of Twitter relaunching its paid verification service, Twitter Blue, in December after a rash of fake “verified” accounts forced them to pull the feature. Twitter Blue costs $11 a month for iOS and Android subscribers.
Two months into Twitter Blue, the social media site’s Blue subscription tier counted for just 180,000 paying users as of the middle of January, a figure that represents just 0.2% of the social media app’s monthly active users. The 180,000 Blue subscribers represent 62% of Twitter Blue’s total global subscribers, implying the app has 290,000 subscribers for the premium offering in total.
