Users must be at least 18 years old to be eligible to use the new service, report (Representatinal)
New York:
According to CNN Business, Facebook and Instagram users in the US will soon be able to pay for the coveted blue check.
Meta began testing a paid verification option for U.S. users of the two social networks on Friday, CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced on Instagram. The company plans to gradually roll out the paid option to more U.S. users in the coming weeks.
Meta Verified, which was first tested in Australia and New Zealand in February, starts at $11.99 a month on the web and $14.99 a month on mobile. In addition to verification, the option offers other benefits, such as additional protection against impersonation accounts and direct access to customer support, CNN Business reported.
To avoid fake accounts, customers who want to earn a blue badge will need to provide a government ID that matches their profile name and photo. Users will also have to be at least 18 years old to be eligible to use the new service, CNN Business reported.
“This new feature is designed to improve the authenticity and safety of our service,” Zuckerberg wrote on his Instagram broadcast channel in February.
Meta joins other platforms such as Discord, Reddit, and YouTube, which all have their own subscription-based models. CNN Business said Twitter relaunched its own verified subscription service, Twitter Blue, in December after the emergence of fake “verified” accounts forced it to remove the feature. Twitter Blue charges $11 a month for iOS and Android subscribers, part of owner Elon Musk’s attempt to boost his subscription business after acquiring the platform for $44 billion.
For Meta, the move is expected to provide an alternative revenue stream beyond advertising, CNN Business said Saturday, at a time when its core ad sales business is under pressure from a combination of factors, including privacy changes at Apple and recession concerns. And tighten the budget.
(Aside from the title, this story is unedited by NDTV staff and published via a syndicated feed.)
