New registration of Meta The service looks familiar. For $11.99 to $14.99 a month, Instagram and Facebook users will get a blue “verified” mark, access to better security features, and more visibility. more in search. Their opinions will also be prioritized.
The package has a strong echo of Twitter’s Blue subscription service, launched under new owner Elon Musk, who has been actively trying to find ways to monetize his platform — most recently, by notify users that they will not be able to use text-based two-factor authentication unless they sign up.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced Meta Verified in a post to his Instagram channel on February 19, said the service would be rolled out first in Australia and New Zealand, “to enhance authenticity and security across our services.”
Analysts say that while the move is not radically different from Meta, it hints at a lack of innovation by the social media giant, which has laid off more than 11,000 workers since late last year. and spend billions of dollars on it. push into the metaversea technology with no clear business model.
“Meta has always had replication in their DNA—Instagram Reels is just one of a long list of prominent examples—so it’s not surprising to see Twitter omitted to provide basic functionality as a service. senior positions, Zuckerberg is trying to do the same thing,” said Tama Leaver, professor of internet studies at Curtin University in Australia. “The fact that Meta copied Twitter’s subscription model clearly shows a lack of new ideas… Meta has laid off employees and is pouring money into building a metaverse that nobody seems to care about at the moment.”
While Meta has emphasized the security aspect of the subscription product, the fact that subscribers will have better visibility on the company’s platform marks a significant shift for users.
Twitter’s efforts to get users to pay for features, including more advertising using its algorithm, have been met with widespread criticism, and many have criticized it. threatened to leave the platformalthough there is no reliable data on the number of followers.
However, Snapchat and Discord have also introduced paid subscription tiers to users without the same degree of outrage, suggesting that a dislike of Twitter Blue may have something to do with Musk himself and broader concerns. about this platform.
Social media analyst Matt Navarra, who first reported on the Meta change, said: “Meta has seen Snapchat, Discord, and Twitter roll out their own subscriptions, offering users membership master additional features or perks. The idea of paying for features that were once free, he said, has begun to become normalized. “The risk there is going to be reduced for them as to whether it will work or not.”
Despite that, Navarra admits he won’t buy verified status from Meta. “I don’t think it’s worth it,” he said.
The amount of Meta that can be raised through verification is not clear. Twitter has been struggling to sell subscriptions to its Blue service, with Information reporting that the platform has less than 300,000 registered worldwide—would bring in less than 1 percent of the $3 billion Musk wants the company to earn. The Meta family of apps, which includes Instagram, Facebook, and WhatApp, has nearly 10 times as many monthly users as Twitter.
