As predicted, Meta is in fact developing a Twitter copycat subscription service called Meta Verified. With Meta losing money by the day, Zuckerberg is looking at other ways to make money, and has apparently decided that Elon Musk has some good ideas.
As per Meta: “To help up-and-coming creators grow their presence and build community faster, we’ll begin testing a new offering called Meta Verified, a subscription bundle on Instagram and Facebook that includes a verified badge, which authenticates your account with government ID, proactive account protection, access to account support, and increased visibility and reach. We’re starting with a gradual test in Australia and New Zealand later this week to learn what’s most valuable, and we hope to bring Meta Verified to the rest of the world soon.”
But the big question is: is it actually a verification system? Elon Musk has come across a lot of criticism for asking users to pay for verification that doesn’t verify anything. You can easily pose as Ryan Reynolds, Florence Pugh, or, say, Elon Musk with your own Twitter handle, and then pay to add a blue tick to your profile to convince people that you’re the real deal. So, does Meta fall into the same issue?
Ultimately, we don’t know so far. Meta isn’t releasing any details on what the verification process actually entails, so we’ll have to see what users say once the feature and its $11.99/$14.99 on iOS and Android price tag is taken.
