A paid Instagram and Facebook verification subscription launched in the US back in March and has today been expanded to the UK. This follows in the footsteps of Twitter.
Speaking of which, Elon Musk has done a U-turn on advertising – now that he owns an ad-funded business – and has also claimed that working from home is ”morally wrong”…
Facebook verification comes to UK
Facebook owner Meta has followed Twitter’s example in trying to turn verification into a revenue stream. The Meta Verified subscription first launched in the US in March at a steep price.
The launch of Meta Verified was confirmed by Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Instagram. “You can get a badge, proactive impersonation protection and direct access to customer support,” the executive said.
The subscription costs $11.99 per month for those subscribing from the web and $14.99 as an in-app subscription, probably to offset the 30% commission from Apple and Google.
Engadget reports that the company has now rolled out the subscription to the UK.
For UK residents, it costs £10 per month if you sign up on the web and £12 per month if you sign up on an iOS or Android device.
That buys you a verified checkmark on both Facebook and Instagram. Unlike Twitter, verification does actually involve verification: You need to provide a photo or scan of a government-issued photo ID.
The feature officially remains a beta service, with the UK rollout beginning today and continuing over the course of the next few weeks.
If you’re the sort of person willing to pay money for some blue pixels, you should note that you won’t be able to change your profile name, photo, username, or date of birth without losing your checkmark.
Musk does U-turn on the value of advertising
Elon Musk said back in 2006 that advertising is a waste of money and doubled down in 2019, tweeting that he “hates advertising.”
All that, of course, was before he bought a company whose revenue comes from ad sales. Electrek notes Musk telling Tesla shareholders that the company would now be buying ads. He said in a later interview that he made this up on the spot while on stage so had no strategy for it.
Working from home is ‘morally wrong’
In the same CNBC interview, Musk said that he didn’t just insist on an end to remote working because he felt it would improve productivity but because it’s a moral issue.
“It’s not just a productivity thing,” Musk said. “I think it’s morally wrong.”
Musk referred to tech workers as the “laptop classes living in la-la-land,” telling Faber it was hypocritical to work from home while expecting service workers to continue to show up in person.
“People should get off the goddamn moral high horse with the work-from-home bulls***,” Musk continued.
Presumably, he now also thinks it’s immoral to use his private jet because the rest of us have to fly commercial.
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