Users must be above 18 years of age to be eligible for the new service, reports (Representational)
New York:
Facebook and Instagram users in the US will soon be able to make payments to get blue checks on their accounts, CNN Business reported.
Meta began testing a payment verification option for US users of the two social networks on Friday, CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced on Instagram. The company plans to gradually roll out the payment option to more US users over the next few weeks.
First tested in Australia and New Zealand in February, Meta Verified starts at US$11.99 per month on web or US$14.99 per month on mobile. CNN Business reported that in addition to verification, the option offers perks like added protection from impersonation accounts and direct access to customer support.
To avoid fake accounts, customers who wish to receive the Blue Badge must provide a government ID that matches their profile name and picture. According to CNN Business, users must be over 18 to be eligible for the new service.
“This new feature is about increasing the authenticity and security of our services,” Zuckerberg wrote in an Instagram broadcast channel in February.
Meta joins other platforms such as Discord, Reddit and YouTube, which have their own subscription-based models. Twitter relaunched its own verification subscription service, Twitter Blue, in December after an introduction of fake “verified” accounts forced it to pull the feature, CNN Business said. Twitter Blue costs $11 a month for iOS and Android subscribers, part of owner Elon Musk’s effort to grow its subscription business after buying the platform for $44 billion.
For Meta, the move promises another revenue stream beyond advertising, at a time when its core advertising sales business is under pressure from a number of factors, including privacy changes at Apple and tightening budgets amid fears of a recession. is involved, CNN Business said Saturday.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
