Meta unveils subscription service for FB and IG

Meta Platforms Inc., the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, has announced the launch of Meta Verified, a subscription service targeted at content creators. The subscription, priced at $11.99 per month, will offer a verification badge, proactive account protection, account support, and increased visibility and reach. The service will be available on both Facebook and Instagram, but will be separate subscriptions. Meta CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, made the announcement via his Instagram channel.

With subscriptions becoming popular for social networking companies, Meta’s business model is highly reliant on advertising, which can be inconsistent and severely affected by the broader economy. Subscriptions, however, offer a more consistent revenue stream. Meta makes almost all of its revenue from advertising, and the company’s business was hit hard at the beginning of the pandemic and again last year during the war in Europe and the rise of inflation.

Although Meta’s subscription package may offer increased visibility, it remains unclear whether users will be willing to pay for services that have always been free. Twitter’s subscription offering has been slow to take off, and the company is pushing account verification as a major selling point. Unlike Twitter, which does not verify a user’s identity through the subscription, Meta will require users to confirm their identity with a government ID to receive a verification badge.

In the increasingly competitive social networking market, Meta is diversifying its business by offering additional perks and features to content creators. With the launch of Meta Verified, the company is tapping into a growing trend of social media subscriptions. However, it remains to be seen whether users are willing to pay for services that were previously free and whether Meta’s subscription offering will take off.