With paid verification on the rise at social platforms, content creators and marketers feel mixed on its use

By Julian Cannon

Hannah Kling creates healthy recipe content for her roughly 211,000 followers on Instagram. While Kling is not a fan of the new verification subscription model that Instagram recently rolled out, she subscribed to the verification anyway.

Kling was won over by promises from Meta (the owner of Instagram and Facebook) to protect users under the verification system from potential impersonators and the ability to contact a real, live person at Meta should a problem arise with her account. Kling’s previous account was hacked.

“That’s the only reason why I’m doing this, to protect my account because it is my business,” said Kling, adding that it took up to two hours for her verification check to appear on her Instagram page. “So that’s truly the only positive that I see. Aside from that, I’m feeling indifferent about it.”

In recent weeks, not only Meta platforms, but Snapchat and Twitter also increased their paid subscription services, the latter two offering users exclusive customization and verification capabilities.

With this trend on the rise, many marketers and content creators see it as a way for the platforms to diversify monetization offerings beyond advertising, though many wonder whether social media platforms will remain free to users.

“It will depend on the uptake from consumers to determine how viable this feature is and [users may] feel there will always be something else waiting in the wings if there are new features that consumers don’t love,” said Erica Patrick, svp and head of paid social at Mediahub, adding that all of the social media platforms are trying to find incremental revenue wherever possible and continue to copy one another.

How it works

Meta’s recently announced the launch of Meta Verified, a $15 per month subscription that allows Instagram and Facebook users to get a blue verification badge on their accounts. Buying the service on the web will cost you $11.99 per month and $14.99 per month if purchased on an iOS or Android device. The cost for premium features varies by platform. In contrast to Twitter Blue, which is $8 per month, Instagram and Facebook users who are already verified will not have to pay to maintain their checkmark status with Meta Verified.

In addition, Twitter is now charging businesses $1,000 a month to maintain their gold checkmark verification badges, which it introduced in December and replaced the blue checkmarks used by businesses in the past, as well as an additional $50 monthly for each affiliated sub-account.

Before being approved for a Meta Verified subscription, users will need to complete the verification process and present a government-issued photo ID which will confirm your identity before getting started. It is also mandatory to use two-factor authentication since Meta Verified subscribers will not be able to change their profile name, photo, username or date of birth without re-verifying themselves. Meta, Instagram, and Facebook did not respond to Digiday’s request for comment.