Meta targets content creators with new blue tick verification bundle
Author Kathy Nickels
Date 24 February 2023
Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram has announced it will be testing a new paid verification subscription for users to pay to prove they are real.
The new offering, called Meta Verified, assigns users a blue verification badge on their profile in exchange for AUD$20 a month.
Professor of Digital Media and Associate Director of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making and Society (ADM+S), Jean Burgess spoke to Alex Easton on ABC Southern Queensland Radio about this latest move.
It seems from Meta’s press release that the paid verification is primarily aimed at influencers and content creators, says Prof Burgess.
The paid subscription bundles the blue tick verified badge with other premium features including increased visibility and reach, proactive account monitoring for impersonators, and access to a real person for help with common account issues.
Prof Burgess says the move is also about competing with Tik Tok as a platform for the creator economy.
“I think this is a move to try to get the content creators that provide the value to [platforms like] Tik Tok , Instagram, Facebook and Twitter to be more invested in signing up to Meta as a ‘safer place’”.
In comparison to Twitter’s blue tick badge, “Meta’s verification process would absolutely have more robust systems,” says Prof Burgess.
Part of this verification process includes submitting a government-issued ID that matches the name on your profile and profile photo.
“This raises other questions about how much we want to be trusting Meta with our personal information,” she says.
Listen to the full discussion on ABC Southern Queensland Radio from 2:18:00
This episode was broadcast Wed 22 Feb 2023 at 3:00pm
