Meta Platforms Inc. plans to offer a new paid subscription program that will allow users of Meta’s services to verify their accounts and obtain other services, in what appears to be the company’s response to Twitter Inc.’s Twitter Blue.

Announced today by Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg on Facebook, Meta Verified allows users to verify their accounts with a government ID and obtain a blue verification badge. In addition, Meta Verified subscribers gain access to extra impersonation protection against fake accounts and direct access to customer support.

The Facebook newsroom provided further details, such as subscribers also gaining increased visibility and reach, with prominence in some areas of the platform such as search, comment and recommendations. Subscribers are also said to gain access to “exclusive features” to express themselves in “unique ways,” but precisely what those features are is not detailed.

“This new feature is about increasing authenticity and security across our services,” Zuckerberg seemingly said with a straight face before mentioning how much it will cost — $11.99 per month via web subscription and $14.99 per month on iOS.

The feature is clearly about making money, just as when Elon Musk announced Twitter Blue, but the question arises as to what a fair price is. Twitter Blue is offered for $8 per month, and although Twitter has not revealed how many subscribers the service has, the number is believed to be about 300,000 as of early February.

Twitter Blue hasn’t had a strong uptake, but in perspective, Meta Verified does have one key feature that Meta users may be willing to pay for: customer service.  The top comment on Zuckerberg’s Facebook announcement post is “direct access to customer support is the real value, much more so than the blue check mark.”

In response to the comment, Zuckerberg responded that “I agree that’s a big part of the value,” before adding “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.”

Another commenter stated that what’s being offered should be part of the core product and that users should not have to pay for this. In response, Zuckerberg argued that “verifying government IDs and providing direct access to customer support for millions or billions of people costs a significant amount of money. Subscription fees will cover this and will also pace how many people sign up so we’ll be able to ensure quality as we scale.”

Meta is notorious for its customer service or more specifically its lack thereof. Barely a day passes without a media report somewhere about someone losing an account and being unable to get into contact with someone at the company to get the issue sorted out.

$11.99 a month may not appeal so much to individual users, but for companies that have a presence on Facebook or Instagram, it’s small change for some extra protection and the ability to speak to a real person in the event that anything goes wrong.

Meta Verified will be rolled out in Australia and New Zealand in the coming week, with other countries to follow in the near future.

Photo: Wikimedia Commons