Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta Platform has announced that the company will begin testing paid verification dubbed “Meta Verified” just months after Twitter’s Pay Per Blue Tick announcement.
As paid verification becomes a buzzword, News18 spoke to tech experts to understand if this could become the new normal for all social media companies.
Meta stated that the Meta Verified feature is an Instagram and Facebook subscription bundle that includes a verified badge to authenticate a user’s account with a government ID, proactive account protection, account support, and increased visibility and reach.
The feature is available this week in Australia and New Zealand for $11.99 per month on web and $14.99 per month on mobile, and will be arriving in more countries “soon”.
This appears to be similar to Elon Musk’s $8 per month (Rs 650 for India) version of Twitter Blue. But Meta stated that it has no impact on accounts verified against the company’s previous requirements, such as notability and authenticity.
Users who sign up for Meta Verified will also receive exclusive stickers for stories and reels, as well as 100 free stars per month, or the digital currency that can be used to tip Facebook creators. But companies are not currently eligible for this service.
Additionally, Meta said, “At this time, Meta Verified only supports your real name on your profile. Once your profile has been verified, you will not be able to change the profile name, username, date of birth or photo on your profile without going through the Meta Verified subscription and verification request process again.
A new trend
Jitendra Soni, a technology expert, told News18 that paying for social media profile verification has become a mainstream trend because of Musk. He stressed that while social media companies try to cash in on the charm of getting a blue check, “making it available to everyone can be dangerous.”
“For a country like India, at least where social media is used as a vehicle for fake news, a verified profile can act as a seal of authority and have catastrophic consequences,” he added.
Niraj Bora, founder of Surmount Business Advisors Pvt Ltd, believes that blue ticks should work for public figures, celebrities and brands to get a top-notch experience and authenticity from their handles, while keeping the basic functions available by any means should be, regardless of a paid subscription. like LinkedIn.
“But I don’t think the percentage of paid accounts would be high. Most of the Indian users don’t make money from their handles and paying would be difficult for them,” he noted.
In addition, the tech expert does not think that the social media verification model will become the new normal, as the subscription revenue would be miniscule compared to the advertising revenue they generate.
However, Sandeep Gonsalves, co-founder and director of a designer label called Sarah and Sandeep, believes that Indians would not mind investing in building their credibility.
Meanwhile, Delphin Varghese, co-founder and chief business officer of Adcounty Media, explained that Facebook recently announced that it has reached a user mark of two billion, but between inflation slashing advertiser budgets and fierce competition from apps like TikTok and Snapchat, the company is struggling with falling sales growth.
“The company has also recently been impacted by Apple’s regulatory changes that have limited its ability to collect data and sell ads on social networks. The question now is whether Indian users will follow this new trend, and will paid subscriptions be the new normal for social media companies in the future? This all remains to be seen,” he noted.
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