On Friday, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that the paid Meta verification system would be made available to users in the United States. Benefits of being “Meta Verified” include a blue verification badge, proactive impersonation protections, and direct access to customer support; these features were initially introduced in Australia and New Zealand in February. The monthly fee for desktop computers is $11.99, while mobile devices cost $14.99.
However, unlike in Australia and New Zealand, where using Meta Verified will increase your visibility and reach, in the United States this will not be the case. According to Meta spokesperson Paige Cohen, who spoke with The Verge, “we heard feedback that how this piece of the offering worked was causing confusion, so we’re taking the time to further explore its value and learn” before deciding whether or not to roll out the feature beyond Australia and New Zealand.
Visit https://meta.com/verified to be added to the Meta Verified waitlist. You must be 18 or older, provide a photo of your government-issued ID to Meta, meet Meta’s minimum activity requirements, and use two-factor authentication in addition to paying the fee. Once you’ve gone through the verification process, you won’t be able to make any changes to your profile, including your username, profile name, birthday, or photo.
Following in the footsteps of Elon Musk, the new owner of Twitter, who oversaw the rollout of the Twitter Blue verification system, the company has introduced Meta Verified. If you already had a verification badge on Instagram or Facebook prior to the launch of the new Meta Verified system, however, Meta claims nothing will change for you. However, despite Musk’s assurances that “legacy” verification badges would be eliminated, they persist at present.
