Meta introduces Facebook and Instagram Verification Fee

In a Facebook post on Sunday, Mark Zuckerberg stated that the verification service would first roll out in Australia and New Zealand later this week. Getting Meta Verified would require government ID documents to prove the identity of verified accounts, to avoid accounts impersonating people. “This new feature is about increasing authenticity and security across our services,” Zuckerberg wrote in a statement posted to Facebook and Instagram.

Paid subscribers will get a blue badge indicating their account has been verified with a government ID, extra protection against impersonation, direct access to customer support and more visibility, according to the company. The social media giant said the service would be primarily aimed at content creators looking to expand their presence on the platforms and could see adjustments after a test phase.

There would be no changes to accounts on Facebook and Instagram that are already verified, the company said, adding that only users who are over the age of 18 will be allowed to subscribe. The service is not yet available to businesses.

The move comes amid turmoil for the tech giant. Just 3 months after laying off 11,000 workers, Facebooks parent company Meta has given thousands of employee’s “subpar” ratings in a sign the company is preparing for another wave of job cuts.

About 10 per cent of Meta employees were given a rating of “meets most”, the second lowest out of five possible ratings, according to the report. Workers who receive two “meets most” ratings in a row are placed on performance improvement plans, and within the company it is often taken as a sign to look for work elsewhere.

Meta leadership expects the ratings, issued in a recent round of performance reviews, to lead to more employees leaving in coming weeks, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday – and that if not enough depart voluntarily, another wave of lay-offs may occur.

Last year, Mark Zuckerberg warned staff at a town hall meeting that “realistically, there are probably a bunch of people at the company who shouldn’t be here”.

The broader tech sector has embarked on a brutal wave of mass lay-offs in recent months as well, including 12,000 at Google, 10,000 at Microsoft, 7,500 at Twitter, 1,200 at Snapchat and 18,000 at Amazon, as well as countless smaller firms.

Earlier this month, Facebook outlined its product priorities for 2023, which Zuckerberg has dubbed the “year of efficiency”. “We’re working on flattening our org structure and removing some layers of middle management to make decisions faster, as well as deploying AI tools to help our engineers be more productive,” he wrote.

“As part of this, we’re going to be more proactive about cutting projects that aren’t performing or may no longer be as crucial, but my main focus is on increasing the efficiency of how we execute our top priorities.”

Last year Meta saw its ad revenue decline for the first time since the company went public in 2012.

The company recently announced that the number of Facebook’s daily users hit two billion – but between inflation eating into advertisers’ budgets and fierce competition from apps such as TikTok, those users are not bringing in as much revenue as they used to.

The company has also suffered from regulatory changes introduced by iPhone maker Apple, which restricts the ability of social networks to collect data and sell advertising.

Meta Verified will be cheaper on the web than on mobile applications because of commissions taken by Apple on the iPhone or Google on smartphones operated by its Android system.

Zuckerberg said it would cost $11.99 on the web, and $14.99 per month on iOS or Android.

The company said it doesn’t expect to make significant revenue from the service during the test phase but that it is part of diversification efforts.

We can expect this change to be rolled out to users in the US and other countries in the very near future. This is simply a sign of the times as companies around the world want to get their user base on the recurring monthly payment plan.