When someone started something, others will definitely follow if that something is worth a try.
Meta is the social network giant. In the past, it has copied the features of many other social platforms, and to various degrees, made its iterations a lot more successful than the original ones.
The most notable, would be the Stories feature it copied from Snapchat.
This time, it's copying Twitter.
After the world witnessed Elon Musk purchased Twitter for an eye-watering $44 billion, the billionaire is doing whatever it make his investment worth his money.
Besides slashing costs to the extreme, Musk's Twitter also introduced Twitter Blue, where the verified status can be purchased. This, of course, translates to an increase income for Twitter.
Meta followed suit, and announced its own subscription plan it calls the 'Meta Verified'.
Initially rolling out to users in Australia and New Zealand, the subscription offers users a verified label, an improved reach, a better protection from impersonation, access to customer support and exclusive stickers on both Facebook and Instagram.
Meta Verified is more expensive than Twitter Blue.
According to Meta, paid plan for individual and professional accounts costs $11.99 per month on the web and $14.99 per month on iOS or Android.
This is also more expensive than Netflix’s top-tier plan, and also a lot more expensive than Spotify’s premium individual plan.
But more importantly, Meta Verified isn't one purchase for all accounts.
Initially, users have to buy separate plans for Facebook and Instagram, and that users can only purchase the web plan for Facebook. So if users want to buy Meta Verified for Facebook and Instagram, they have to spend $27 a month.
Regardless, Meta said that it hopes to "offer an account linking option in the near future."
What this means, Meta plans to have the subscription model work across both platforms in the future.
For those who wish to purchase a Meta Verified plan, they have to be 18 years old or older, have a history of recent activity on the platform, like posting and have a profile photo that matches the government ID they provide as proof.
Initially, Meta isn't allowing subscribers to change their profile name, username, date of birth, or even their profile picture without unsubscribing and applying again.
And just like Twitter, Meta Verified means that the company has to change the meaning of the blue checkmark on its platform.
Unlike Twitter Blue, Meta Verified isn't introducing Meta's platforms with different colors for different types of verified users, instead, Meta created new definition for it.
The company changed it from "a tool to help people find the real accounts of public figures and brands," to "a tool to help people find the real accounts of people and brands."
In all, Meta Verified “is about increasing authenticity and security across our services,” said CEO Mark Zuckerberg in a Facebook post.
But in order to differentiate between notable profiles and Meta Verified subscribers, Meta is starting to show follower counts at more places.
"The blue badge will look the same as we evolve the meaning of the badge to focus on authenticity," it noted.
"Long term, we want to build a subscription offering that’s valuable to everyone, including creators, businesses and our community at large. As part of this vision, we are evolving the meaning of the verified badge so we can expand access to verification and more people can trust the accounts they interact with are authentic," Meta wrote in a blog post.