Facebook and Instagram Will Get You a Blue Tick by Paying

Facebook and Instagram users can now pay for their blue verified tick with the new Meta Verification subscription bundle that’s aimed at creators who want to build their communities and increase their security and reach on these popular social media platforms.

Meta Verified will kick off in a testing phase this week for Australian individual users. It will not be available to purchase at this time for accounts representing businesses and websites.

Meta’s model, apart from providing the blue checkmark, aims to protect people from fake accounts, which can be a high possibility, especially for accounts with a good online presence. This is another focus of Meta Verified and with this, Meta says it wants to evolve “the meaning of the verified badge so we can expand access to verification and more people can trust the accounts they interact with are authentic.“

There will be easy access to the Help Center and subscribers can take help from an actual person (the current support isn’t that good) and exclusive stickers for Facebook and Instagram Stories as well as Reels, along with 100 free stars a month. As per social media consultant Matt Navarra, Meta Verified users will show up in comments and recommendations on a priority basis.

For this, users are required to be 18 and above and need to submit a government ID. The name and photo on the ID need to match the ones on Facebook and Instagram. At present, Facebook and Instagram verifications require a certain process and there are no proper guidelines to see what really helps people get it.

This is currently a test and is being rolled out in Australia and New Zealand at $11.99 a month if taken from the web and $14.99 per month if purchased via Android and iOS. The extra fee is probably to cope with the app store fee Apple and Google charge for in-app purchases.

Meta Verified will reach more countries soon but it remains to be seen when it arrives in India. The idea of putting everything, including the once-deemed prestigious blue tick behind a paywall appears to be the new trend and while it may be liked by those who can’t get access to such features organically, the other lot would naturally show dismay.