Facebook parent company Meta has officially announced a brand new verifications system for both its Instagram and Facebook platforms which operates in the same way as the one recently established by competitor Twitter.
Meta Verified has officially rolled as of this past Friday to the social media platforms owned by the company. Instead of handing out the coveted blue checkmark to accounts owned by users who are very prominent public figures, this new checkmark is open to literally any user with money as a way to verify that the account being used is authentic. This new system is very similar to the new one implemented by Twitter, the subscription service named Twitter Blue which was fully unveiled by Elon Musk in the wake of his takeover of Twitter.
“The meaning of the verified badge has been updated to represent authenticity,” explained Instagram via an article on its help website. “An Instagram account with a verified badge next to its name now means that Instagram has confirmed that it is the authentic presence for that person or brand. Previously, the verified badge also required the person or brand to be notable and unique.” The company stated that its users who had originally been verified via the old rules would still retain their blue checkmarks.
“The verified badge is a tool to help people find the real accounts of people and brands,” added Instagram. “If an account has the verified badge, we’ve confirmed that it represents who it says it does. A verified badge is not a symbol to show importance, authority or subject matter expertise. We don’t use the verified badge verified to endorse or recognize public figures or brands.”
Just like Twitter Blue, any public figure that elects to subscribe to the new Instagram Verified will not be allowed to change their username, or move their blue checks to another account.
As of writing, Facebook has not yet updated its own help site to reflect the new policy changes, but Meta did offer up a number of additional details on its own site. To go along with the blue check, users will be offered proactive account protection against impersonation, a direct link to support teams across both platforms, and a set of exclusive features across Instagram and Facebook stories.
To go along with the additional features is a larger price tag than seen when it comes to Twitter Blue. While Twitter Blue sets its users back roughly $8 a month for web users and $11 for iOS and Android, this new Meta Verified is slated to cost $11.99 a month on the web and $14.99 on mobile and users will need to be an additional subscription for each site they use.
