In November 2022, social media giant Meta announced that they would lay off over 11,000 employees.
Citing the “macroeconomic downturn” and “increased competition”, chief executive officer (CEO) Mark Zuckerberg also apologised to those impacted.
However, on Sunday (19 Feb), he announced that Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, would be introducing a paid subscription service so users can verify their accounts.
Source: Mark Zuckerberg on Facebook
He stressed that the move would “increase authenticity and security” across all of Meta’s services.
According to his Facebook post, Meta’s new product, a paid subscription service, is called Meta Verified.
The service allows users to verify their accounts with a government ID, and get a blue verified badge and extra impersonation protection against accounts impersonating them.
Users will also get direct access to customer support.
Meta Verified will be introduced in Australia and New Zealand in the coming week. However, it is unclear when the service will be available in other countries, as Mr Zuckerberg stated it would be “soon”.
Meta Verified starts at S$16.02/month online or S$20.03/month for iPhone users.
France24 reports that only users above 18 can use the feature. In contrast, businesses are unable to use this feature.
According to BBC, Meta said the introduction of the service would not affect existing verified accounts.
However, they noted that there would be an increase in visibility for smaller users who become verified.
To be verified, Instagram and Facebook names must match a government ID document.
Apart from that, users need a profile picture that shows their faces.
Just last year, Elon Musk also attempted to introduce a similar “blue tick” feature to Twitter.
However, users started impersonating brands and celebrities, and he had to pause the service.
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Featured image adapted from Adem AY on Unsplash.
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