FACEBOOK AND INSTAGRAM USERS IN AUS AND NZ CHARGED
If you’re living in Australia or New Zealand and you’re thinking of getting yourself verified on Facebook or Instagram, you’re going to have to pay up.
Up until last week, the feature was free. Not anymore as this service will cost about US$12 online and US$15 on both Android and iOS mobile platforms.
Meta, the parent company of both social media platforms, said access will be rolled out gradually.
“We’ll be gradually rolling out access to Meta Verified on Facebook and Instagram and expect to reach 100% availability within the first seven days of the rollout.”
In Australia, users have to provide a government-issued ID to apply for a verified badge. The aim is to help those who are worried about impersonation. They will also have direct access to customer support and more visibility.
Meta founder and CEO, Mark Zuckerberg said in a statement that “this new feature is about increasing authenticity and security across our services”.
Experts believe a large number of influencers, celebrities and content creators that would want to get verified for authenticity, will mean a large revenue increase for Meta.
Rival platform Twitter tried a similar thing recently with less-than-ideal results.
Image credit: DW