Is Twitter Blue an example to follow? In any case, Instagram and Facebook seem to be thinking about it by developing a paid verification option.
Meta is reportedly thinking about implementing a paid subscription for acquire a verification badge on his social networks Instagram and Facebook. He’s the developer Alessandro Paluzzi who discovered it and shared it at TechCrunch.
By analyzing the code of the mobile applications of these two networks, he indeed discovered two important lines: “IG_NME_PAID_BLUE_BADGE_IDV” and “FB_NME_PAID_BLUE_BADGE_IDV”. These names are unequivocal, since they speak a paid blue badge and the IDV, an acronym generally used for “identity verification”. The developer was also able to observe references to a new type of paid subscription which were not present until then, without having details on the nature of it.
Paid verification at Instagram and Facebook?
We have good reason to believe in this development. Alessandro Paluzzi is known for his code analyzes, and has already unveiled many features in advance which were quickly confirmed by Instagram. The only difference here is that Meta did not comment on this leak to confirm it or explain it further, as he is used to with this type of discovery.
This is however not so surprising, since this evolution is more than close of the famous Twitter Blue subscription that Elon Musk put in place as soon as he arrived on the platform. This is just beginning to be rolled out in France, and offers for 8 euros per month having access to the previously prized blue badge on its platform as an indicator of a source’s credibility.
Today, this badge has lost its meaning. As part of Twitter Blue, it allows you to automatically boost your posts, receive 50% fewer ads than other users and post longer videos on the platform. But what he really allowed to do is to create nameless chaos at its introduction, when disgruntled members of Elon Musk’s leadership took the opportunity to parody important accounts. A diversion that did not please both the new management of the social network and its business partners whose names were parodied.
It is undeniable that the verified status of a social network has become a marker of importance in the influencer economy. But by eroding its exclusivity, which was ironically tied to battling imposters, the platform made it less enviable.
However, monetizing a social network is still a major challenge in Silicon Valley. This is why many timelines have moved from a chronological model to an algorithmic model: the latter makes it possible to place advertising much more efficiently. This was the case with Instagram some time ago, and it would not be surprising if the example of Twitter Blue gave Meta the idea for a new source of income.
If Mark Zuckerberg’s company has not yet reacted, it’s a safe bet that we are facing one of two scenarios. The first is that the platform would simply stand ready to press a button to launch its own version, in case Twitter Blue ends up proving its financial worth. This scenario is regular in the middle.
The second is that this new subscription is well planned, but faced with the ire provoked by its implementation at Twitter, Meta wants to keep full control communication around it. Therefore, he can not venture to talk about it through a small tweet to confirm the arrival of the feature; an armada of communication and marketing experts would surely be used to avoid the bad buzz that the rival has caused.
Nothing is obviously confirmed at the moment. It’s only about analysis of a piece of code found on Instagram and Facebook mobile apps, after all. It only proves one thing for the moment: the Twitter case is not ignored by its competitors.
TechCrunch
Maxime “OtaXou” Lancelin-Golbery
