What's the Deal With Meta Verified?

Meta Verified Explained

On Sunday, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg took to the new Meta Channel on Instagram to announce Meta Verified, a new subscription service that will allow users to add the coveted blue checkmark to their Facebook and Instagram accounts for a monthly fee of $11.99 for web users and $14.99 for app-based users. The service will also give subscribers improved protection against impersonation, increased visibility and reach across search, explore, and comments, and better access to customer support.

An Important Detail

While Zuck did make it clear that there will be no change to accounts that are already verified, there has been no official communication as to whether this service will be available for business accounts, or if it is exclusive to personal and creator accounts.

The Upside

Security has been a real issue across Meta apps (especially Instagram), and this subscription service could be a great solution. Meta is also notorious for having subpar customer support, and access to a dedicated team is a definite value add.

Though this does beg the question - are these things that users should really be paying for, or is it the responsibility of Meta to provide these services and protections as a standard practice?

Our Concerns

The term "increased reach" is pretty ambiguous, and it's hard to get a sense of the ROI based on this perk alone.

We also seriously question how will this impact the user experience across Meta apps, especially if the algorithm prioritizes content based on financial investment rather than prior engagement or entertainment value.

Finally, if history tells us anything, it's that the rollout of subscription services like these (read: Twitter Blue) have been messy at best, and user sentiment over it isn't exactly stellar.

Our Takeaway

Our gut tells us Meta Verified is Zuck's way of making up lost revenue and it's too soon to tell whether this will be widely adopted.

As of now, Meta Verified is only available in New Zealand and Australia, and there has been no official word on when it will be available in other countries.

If and when it becomes available in your region, we recommend taking some time to evaluate the service and its upside before making an investment.