Meta started rolling out its own Verified subscription last month, as both a way to prove the authenticity of an account, as well as likely another source of revenue. It looks like one subsidiary, Instagram, is taking the program further, with a feed that only shows content from accounts that are Meta Verified.
The Verge reports that Instagram head Adam Mosseri made the announcement on the IG Updates broadcast channel. Part of the post reads “We’re exploring this as a new control for people and a way for businesses and creators to get discovered”. The toggle will reportedly by hidden under “Following” and “Favourites” when tapping on the app’s logo.
#Instagram has officially announced the #Meta Verified feed 🥳
Tweeted 75 days before the official announcement 😇 pic.twitter.com/B8BVoPY3Ko
— Alessandro Paluzzi (@alex193a) October 23, 2023
Overall, this sounds a lot like what X, previously Twitter, is doing with its own paying users, except here it looks to be a choice rather than the only option. Ad revenue sharing has also not been made a part of the Meta Verified deal, so there’s less incentive for paying accounts to engage in rage baiting. But on the flip side, one can see the reach advantage of paying accounts as another form of advertising.
The post by Mosseri ends with “Let us know if you’d be interested in using this”, but doesn’t mention the number of Instagram users involved in this Meta Verified feed test. No word on when it will get rolled out to everyone, if it will indeed be a feature everyone gets. The price of verification under the umbrella of the Facebook parent is slightly steeper than what X is charging, so it makes for quite the pricey feature for those who are actually interested in this.
(Source: The Verge)
