Meta plans to launch a new blue badge for verified accounts on Facebook and Instagram this week, according to a new announcement from CEO Mark Zuckerberg. The service, which sounds an awful lot like Twitter’s Blue service, will cost $11.99 per month for users who apply on the web or $14.99 per month on iOS—likely because Apple takes a $3 cut on subscriptions and Facebook is trying to price that in.
Users will need to provide Meta with a government ID, which will get them a blue checkmark on their accounts. The goal is to fight impersonation, according to Zuckerberg.
Users will also “get direct access to customer support,” though it’s not immediately clear what that will look like. Small businesses often complain about the difficulty of communicating with Facebook when there’s a problem with their accounts.
“Direct access to customer support is the real value, much more so than the blue check mark,” one user wrote in response to Zuckerberg’s announcement on Sunday morning.
“I agree that’s a big part of the value. Also, once you’ve verified your account with a government ID we can more effectively find and remove any imposter accounts since we know which account is the real you,” Zuckerberg responded.
While Zuckerberg wrote the service would be rolling out this week, he left some ambiguity about when it will be available in various countries, including the U.S.
“We’ll be rolling out in Australia and New Zealand this week and more countries soon,” Zuckerberg wrote.
Source: Forbes
