In a move surprising more people than it should, Meta – the parent company of Facebook, Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, and Instagram – has decided to follow in the footsteps of Elon Musk’s Twitter by introducing paid verification.
In a post on his new Instagram Channel, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced the new feature:
According to the post, verification will cost $12 and will be available in Australia and New Zealand this week. While the post does state that it will be available in more countries soon, specific countries or regions, or even a hazy timeline, are not mentioned.
According to Zuckerberg, Meta Verified gets you a blue badge, extra impersonation protection, and direct access to customer support, however, he does not specify whether this new verification subscription is only for Instagram accounts or whether it covers all Meta accounts belonging to the same user.
According to Instagram’s Help pages, “Meta Verified is available to individual or professional profiles on Instagram that meet our eligibility requirements. Business profiles are ineligible to apply for Meta Verified at this time.” The post continues by stating: “Purchasing a Meta Verified subscription on Instagram will not transfer over to your Facebook account. If you have multiple profiles on your Instagram account, each profile must have an individual Meta Verified subscription associated with your account.”
This latest money grab from another multi-billion dollar tech company might be conveyed as benefitting users but ultimately benefits Meta as you’ll need to shell out a ton of money every month if you want to have your Facebook and Instagram accounts verified.
The bigger concern is that we’re now entering a stage where tech companies are charging you for security features that exist and have grown and adapted, on their own platforms.
If this was truly about “increasing authenticity and security” then why are you being asked to pay a subscription fee for each account and why haven’t tech CEOs put their pet projects on the back burner and reallocated those funds to bolstering security on their platforms? As Meta, and many others, try to convince us that the metaverse is the future, I can’t help but wonder just how much pizzo it’s going to cost to stay safe and prove that I am myself, in Zuck’s all-encompassing, futuristic dystopia.