Meta’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced a new paid subscription service for Facebook and Instagram on Sunday, giving users the option for a ‘blue checkmark’ for a monthly fee.
Meta Verified will cost $11.99 per month on the web and $14.99 per month on iOS. It launches in Australia and New Zealand this week before a wider rollout.
– The subscription allows you to verify your account using an ID, receive a blue badge, gain additional protection against impersonation accounts claiming to be you, and get direct access to customer support – said Zuckerberg.
The Facebook founder noted that providing direct access to customer support will cost ‘a significant amount of money’, which will be offset by subscription revenue.
The new option comes after Twitter launched a revamped version of its own paid service, Twitter Blue, which allows users to obtain a verified profile and other benefits.
Elon Musk launched Twitter Blue shortly after he struck a $44 billion deal to acquire the company last year. He stated at the time that Twitter was experiencing a ‘massive drop in revenue’ due to an exodus of advertisers from the platform.
Meta has faced its own challenges over the past year and a half, with the company’s stock falling by about 54 percent from its peak in September 2021.
The tech giant has laid off around 11,000 workers in recent months, which is just part of the broader decline of major tech companies.
