Is it worth paying for Verification?

Last updated on July 5th, 2024 at 11:38 am

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Okay I know I’ve shared about paying for social media verification in the past. But this time it’s different. Before we were dealing with third-party companies that claimed if you paid them X amount of money you’d get the verification from all the top social media platforms.

Now it’s the social media platforms that are encouraging this type of activity. It’s basically a subscription service to gain the coveted blue check mark badge.

I guess it has its upsides

It may have its upsides if you are someone who has a large number of followers yet can’t be verified for free. I’ve tried via Facebook and Instagram to be verified and I’m turned down.

You may be more visible to a wider audience (I don’t know if this is true. I’m just guessing here.)

But yet again it can have its downsides

Does this mean if you don’t pay for the verified check mark you’ll have less reach for your content?

Would scammers for spam profiles take advantage of this feature? Or would there be a system to find out how valid a profile or account is?

Let’s talk about the price

Depending on the social media platform it varies.

If you still use Twitter it’s around $9 USD a month.

For Instagram or Facebook, I saw it was around $15 USD a month.

You gotta give it to Meta on the greed factor. You can’t bundle your verified status for both sites you have to pay for each separately.

Let’s break that down for a minute.

Let’s assume you’d like both your Instagram account and Facebook profile verified.

That would be the following:

IG $15 USD a month so $15 x 12 = $180 USD now times that 180 by 2.

$180 x 2= $360 USD.

So if you paid for both verification services a year it’s $360 USD. For some people, that’s a car payment, loan payment, or even a portion of their household budget. Granted it’s a year but still, that’s a lot of money just for a blue check mark.

You can read more about that via the Meta Verified page or Instagram.

Personally, I think the price points are a bit outrageous. Yes, I know that Meta Verified would be about the same cost as a streaming service a month but honestly, I don’t see the point.

I think many US, New Zealand, and Australian users may jump at the chance to try this just to see if it extends their audience reach but it still makes you wonder.

I’d like to note if you currently have a verified profile or account this doesn’t apply to you.

How will this affect content creators?

Being a content creator I was chatting with a Skincare content creator via Instagram the other day. We were trying to figure out how these new changes will affect content creators.

She posed a good question asking if this new subscription verification would affect how brands work with creators. Would it skew the field a bit?

In terms of would brands prefer to only work with those folks who have a blue check next to the profile? Or would they still be open to working with everyone?

I’m also more worried about scammers or spam profiles being created to scam folks into thinking they are going to work with a big brand.

Being that the feature is still new no one can really say if it’s extended their audience reach or overall profile visibility.

The feature is so new many have questions

This feature is so new it’s leaving many people talking. I think many have questions about its effectiveness and its real need.

Granted it claims to have features to help protect your account (better than it does now) and that you’ll be able to contact support via DM. Oh, and you’ll get some exclusive content. Mainly more stickers you can use. Also a set number of stars a month ( I don’t know how those work.)

I think it’s just another example of Facebook and Instagram trying to compete with other social media platforms to try to gain more money from users.

Will this be a benefit to all?

I can’t say if it will or not. But if you want to try the feature you can see if it is available to you by visiting your Instagram profile settings.

I viewed the info but when I saw it was $15 USD I passed. I don’t think I should have to pay just for a verification sticker.

I don’t know if there is a set number of followers you need to have to set up the subscription either. Again that’s all info you can find via the links I posted above.

I think you as a user will need to factor in what would be the benefit to you. I can’t say it will be for everyone.

It would have been nice if they had created a payment tier system to help ease the price point a bit.

I’m not certain how many people can manage this subscription price point into their monthly budget.

Do you think you’ll try this new paid verification?

I don’t think I will.