Could the end of free social media be nigh? Hot on the heels of Twitter Blue comes Meta Verified, another subscription option for social media.
What is Meta Verified?
Meta chief executive Mark Zuckerberg announced plans for a new option that will allow users to pay for verification of their profiles and potentially more protection against impostor accounts. Those who join up will get a blue badge on their profile and – possibly of more value – direct access to customer support – for a fee.
To get Meta Verified on Instagram or Facebook, users will have to provide an official government ID. That also means that you can only use your legal name on the account rather than an alias.
Doesn’t Facebook and Instagram already offer verified profiles?
It does but only for those who have confirmed they are the online presence of public figures, celebrities and brands. If you are a regular user though, it can be difficult to get that blue badge.
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How much?
Facebook Verified currently costs $12 a month (€11), or $15 through Apple’s App Store. Instagram Verified will costs the same, and, at the moment, if you want both you’ll have to pay twice.
Seems expensive
It’s not a cheap option and will only appeal to those who don’t want to risk being impersonated on one of Meta’s platforms but don’t qualify for verification through other means. It costs more than Twitter Blue, which is also limited in its availability.
Meta said it is planning bundle subscriptions, but so far, it is fairly light on detail.
Why now?
Why not? Snapchat introduced its own subscription option last year, Snapchat+, which gives users access to exclusive, experimental and pre-release features for $4 a month, along with prioritised support. Twitter also launched Twitter Blue late last year, although that hadn’t gone as smoothly as the company has hoped and it still isn’t available in every country.
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Meta Verified could also be a revenue generator for the company. Meta’s revenue fell last year for the first time since 2012, as the economic volatility and cost-of-living crisis hit companies’ ad budgets.
When can I get it?
Not so fast. This is still a test, so the verified option is first being made available to users in Australia and New Zealand, with plans to add the US in the coming weeks. Facebook hasn’t said if it plans to test the verified service further, and it may well go away as quickly as it arrived, if it doesn’t prove popular.
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Is this the end of free social media?
Not necessarily. At the moment, Meta is targeting this subscription at people who are willing to pay extra for services, rather than charging for all access to its social media platforms.
You can still use Facebook and Instagram for free and there is no indication that will be changing soon. The platforms still largely depend on advertising to generate revenue; in 2022, Meta made $116.6 billion, with 97.5 per cent of that coming from ads. Meta would need to sign up a lot of paid users to approach that ad revenue.
There is the saying that if a product is free then you are the product. But this subscription fee would only be for extra verification rather than excluding users from being hit with advertising, so if users want an ad-free experience, they’ll be disappointed.
