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Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, on Sunday unveiled a new paid membership service for Facebook and Instagram that offers customers a sacred blue check in exchange for a monthly charge.
On the web, Meta Verified will cost $11.99 per month, and on iOS, it will cost $14.99 per month. Prior to a larger deployment, it debuts this week in Australia and New Zealand.
According to Zuckerberg, the membership “allows you to confirm your account with a government ID, receive a blue badge, get further impersonation protection against accounts pretending to be you, and get direct access to customer service.”
The Facebook creator said that offering direct access to customer assistance would be expensive and that this expense will be covered by membership fees.
The new choice was introduced shortly after Twitter unveiled a redesigned version of Twitter Blue, a premium service that offers users a verified profile and other perks.
Soon after finalizing his $44 billion agreement to buy the firm last year, Elon Musk launched Twitter Blue. At the time, he claimed that an exodus of advertisers was to blame for Twitter’s “huge loss in income.”
Since its peak in September 2021, Meta has had its own challenges, with stock prices falling by around 54% over the previous 18 months.
In recent months, the social media juggernaut has let go of approximately 11,000 employees as part of a larger slowdown among major IT firms.
»Zuckerberg revealed premium membership options for Facebook and Instagram«