Meta’s paid verification program is now accessible in the United States, and users can pay to get a blue verification badge on Facebook and Instagram. The program will expand to more countries in the coming months.
After Twitter’s plan to launch a paid verification program, more social platforms are following the same path. The reason is that these networks can’t rely solely on advertising revenues anymore and should look for new monetization methods. A paid verification program worked great for Twitter, and Meta also hopes to make more money by giving away blue badges.
The program is known as Meta Verified and costs $12 a month for web users and $15 for Android and iOS. CEO Mark Zuckerberg says the paid users will get “proactive impersonation protection” and direct access to customer support. Additionally, Meta gives stars to paid users each month, which can be used for tipping creators. These kinds of users also get extra sticker packs for Stories and Reels.
US users can now pay for Meta’s paid verification
The Meta Verified program was first launched in Australia and New Zealand last month. After a successful debut, the program is now expanding to the US and more countries in the following months. Of course, users that want to enroll must meet specific qualifications. For example, they should be over 18 years old, and two-factor authentication for their account should be enabled.
The users should also send a government-issued ID to Meta. This ID card should have the same name and photo as the account. This is because the company wants to prevent impersonation, which often happened in the early days of the Twitter paid verification program.
Finally, the paid verified users can’t change the photo, date of birth, or username without going through the Meta Verified subscription and verification process again.
Meta says its paid verification program is still being tested, and more features might be available to paid users. Also, the paid users in the US won’t get increased visibility like their counterparts in Australia and New Zealand. The company said this offering was causing “confusion,” and they’re still evaluating it.
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