When social media sends you a bill
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You are used to surfing social media for free. After Twitter, Meta wants your money too.
Following Elon Musk's footsteps, Mark Zuckerberg announced the launch of Meta Verified, a new paid subscription service for its Meta platform’s Instagram and Facebook.
Meta’s subscription service will let users verify their accounts using a government ID and get a blue badge.?
Currently, Meta Verified only supports real names. "Once your profile is verified, you can't change the profile name, username, date of birth, or photo on your profile without going through the Meta Verified subscription and verifications application process again," the company said in a blog post.
Unlike Musk’s Twitter, which seeks to remove all legacy blue ticks for non-paying members Meta said there will be no changes to Instagram and Facebook accounts that are already verified based on prior requirements.
The pilot subscription service will be first rolled out in Australia and New Zealand later this week before being expanded to the rest of the world.
The subscription will be priced starting at USD 11.99 (INR 992) per month on the web or USD 14.99 (Rs 1,240) per month on Apple’s iOS platforms.
For a celebrity or influencer with any background, the verified badge plays an essential role. It is not an option but a necessity for them. Spending around INR 1,240 is justified to ensure that they maintain their credibility and mass appeal.
However, with this new initiative there are concerns that Zuckerburg’s Meta might blur the line between advertising and organic content more than ever before. This could also jeopardise the quality of user experience if it’s not executed meticulously.
In recent years, other social media apps like Snap Inc's Snapchat, YouTube, Discord and messaging app Telegram have also launched paid subscription services as a new source of revenue.
The social media company said it hopes to "bring Meta Verified to the rest of the world soon".
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The effects of what Meta Verified will be on the Facebook ecosystem isn’t known yet. Only time will tell what's the subscription score for the future of Meta and how effectively can users across the world adapt to it.
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