In a group on Instagram, Meta has announced that it is trialing Meta’s testing paid verification for Instagram and Facebook for $11.99 per month on web and $14.99 per month on mobile, rolling out to Australia and New Zealand soon.
The new verification process, called Meta Verified, comes with a twitter-style blue checkmark badge that will appear on users’ profile pages, obviously taking inspiration from Twitter. This badge indicates to your followers and viewers that you are a verified account belonging to the real person or organisation.
“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.”
The previous method of getting verified was quite stringent, restricting it to those that were considered "notable" by Meta.
Meta seems to be making claims that this feature is designed to protect the online reputation of its users and help them protect their identities from being exploited by malicious actors.
“This new feature is about increasing authenticity and security across our services.”
Meta Verified is the latest in a string of efforts by Facebook and Instagram to increase user safety, alongside features like two-factor authentication, and more recently, a personalised security checkup.
We’ll have to wait and see what comes of this new feature but it looks as though it could be an important tool for businesses and individuals looking to protect their online identities, while Meta monetises it.