Paid blue badge for Instagram, Facebook launched

After Twitter, the paid subscription service bug has infected two more social media platforms. Facebook and Instagram are the ones.

Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Meta (which owns the two platforms), said that the paid blue badge costs a specific amount for users. The service starts at $11.99 a month to authenticate one’s account in some countries. The rates in India are yet to be announced.

The paid verification includes blue badge verification, prioritization in comments, recommendations in IG Explore and Reels, and customer support. Price is this: $12 per month on the web and $15 per month on iOS.

There is an opinion that the Elon Musk model for Twitter has now been validated by Instagram and Facebook going for paid subscription.

Advertising-based revenue models are failing these days. That’s why social media platforms are introducing new ways to monetize their reach. Whatever may be the compulsions of the platforms, some feel, paid subscription will eventually kill these platforms. It will advantage mainstream media. However, these days, even mainstream media houses are putting their news reports/opinion articles behind paywalls.