Mark Zuckerberg recently announced a new subscription service, “Meta Verified”, would be rolling out to verify accounts. This Meta Verified announcement has a lot of people angry but I don’t think it’s all bad.
First of all does this mean we ALL have to start paying for Facebook and Instagram? NO! This paid service is geared more towards “creators” which means people and influencers creating content for their art or business.
The main benefits with this service is direct access to customer support and increased visibility.
In this post, I’ll talk about what Meta Verified means, how profiles and Pages will be affected, and most importantly, should you get it?
As you can see in Mark’s original Meta Verified announcement, there were a lot of comments, most of them angry.
But I do think there will be some benefits to this new service.
What is Meta Verified
Basically it is a monthly subscription service that will give profiles more features. People can purchase a monthly subscription for (USD) $11.99 on the web and (USD) $14.99 on iOS and Android.
Meta’s article (https://about.fb.com/news/2023/02/testing-meta-verified-to-help-creators/) said that they were doing this “to help up-and-coming creators grow their presence and build community faster” which I thought was an interesting spin on this service.
With Meta Verified, you’ll get:
- A verified badge, confirming you’re the real you and that your account has been authenticated with a government ID.
- More protection from impersonation with proactive account monitoring for impersonators who might target people with growing online audiences.
- Help when you need it with access to a real person for common account issues.
- Increased visibility and reach with prominence in some areas of the platform– like search, comments and recommendations.
- Exclusive features to express yourself in unique ways.
Meta Verified is available for direct purchase on Instagram or Facebook in Australia and New Zealand starting later this week (announced on 2/19/23).
I talk about a few of the implications and unknowns in this video.
How profiles and Pages will be affected by Meta Verified
There are a lot of unknowns as this rolls out but Meta said that current Verified accounts will not be affected.
The announcement also said that “Businesses are not eligible to apply for Meta Verified at this time.” So that seems to indicate that it is only for profiles or the murky “professional mode” profiles.
In the Meta for Creators section, you can turn on “professional mode” that uses your profile to “build a public presence” which is what I always thought Pages were about.
It seems to me that one of the bigger benefits of Meta Verified is the increase visibility and reach for your profile. I don’t know if that means you won’t have the same organic reach you have now on your Facebook profile if you don’t sign up for the service.
I think the other biggest benefit is the access to a customer support person for issues. But does that mean you have access for every ad account or Page that you might manage as a profile? Or is that just for issues related to your profile?
And does that also mean if you are advertising on Facebook and you don’t have the Meta Verified subscription then you won’t get as good support?
They also mention “exclusive stickers on Facebook and Instagram Stories and Facebook Reels, and 100 free stars a month on Facebook so you can show your support for other creators.”
Wild speculation follows but it could be a way to reward other content in a bigger way than a current “like” or “reaction” does currently. Perhaps more Reach with a gold star??
Should you get Meta Verified?
For most users, I think the answer is no. Many people aren’t using it in a bigger way to promote their business or creative endeavor.
If you are running ads, using your profile to give your business more visibility, or a bigger personality, then I would recommend using Meta Verified.
I think it will possibly be worth the added reach and access to customer support but that all remains to be seen.
Some questions I still have:
- Can you unsubscribe and resubscribe? How will they reduce churn?
- What happens if your Instagram account doesn’t match your name exactly (many people can’t get their exact name)
- Can you get help with any Page that you manage with this service?
Lots of things still up in the air but we’ll see how everything shakes out in Australia with the rollout.
What about you, do you think you’ll subscribe to Meta Verified? Add your comments below!
References for this article:
New York TImes indicated the service was paid separately for each profile.