Meta introduces a premium subscription service for verification a la Twitter Blue
In a move similar to Elon Musk-owned Twitter, Facebook parent company Meta is launching a paid membership service dubbed "Meta Verified" for user accounts, according to co-founder Mark Zuckerberg on February 19.
This debut coincides with Meta's efforts to diversify its revenue streams outside traditional digital advertising, which suffered significantly in 2022 as a result of the global economic slowdown and the effects of Apple's modifications to its iOS privacy policies. On the web, the subscription service will cost $11.99 per month, and on iOS, it will cost $14.99 per month. Apple charges a 30 percent commission fee on subscriptions, but this is expected to be compensated by the higher subscription fee on iOS. There is no information yet about when the service will be accessible on Android.
This week, Meta Verified will launch in Australia and New Zealand, with growth to additional nations to follow. According to Zuckerberg, the subscription service will give customers immediate access to customer support, extra impersonation security against accounts that are posing as the user, and a blue badge once they authenticate their accounts with a government ID. According to him, the goal of the new function is to increase the authenticity and security of all of our services.
The updated Twitter Blue subscription service, which debuted in December 2022, gives users a verified Blue checkmark and a variety of new features, such as the ability to edit tweets and submit lengthier videos of live events organise bookmarks, personalise the app icon, add NFT profile pictures, and gain early access to future features. Up to 60 minutes (2GB file size) through the web.
On February 8, the service was made accessible in India for a monthly cost of Rs 650 on the web and Rs 900 on mobile devices. Twitter also made plans to limit SMS-based two-factor authentication mode to Twitter Blue subscribers from February 18. Contrary to Twitter, Meta is keeping part of its current verification method in place. The company stated in a support website that this service will only be offered for user profiles, not Facebook pages. According to Meta, verified badges will remain on users who already have them. For accounts that are not Meta Verified subscribers, the business will assess "a number of elements" to see if they fit their verification requirements and are in the public interest, it said.