Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, has started selling blue ticks to users in the United States. This means that anyone can now get a blue tick on their social media profile by paying a fee. The blue tick is a verification badge that denotes the authenticity of an account belonging to a brand, public figure or celebrity.
The service costs $11.99 per month if purchased online or $14.99 through a mobile app store, and it includes “proactive phishing protection” and access to customer support. Meta’s blue tick service is aimed at creators who want to establish their authenticity on social media and safeguard their accounts from phishing attempts.
To obtain a blue tick on Instagram, users must be 18 years old, submit their photo ID and go through a verification process. Once verified, it is difficult to change profile information without going through the verification process again. Users who already have verification on Facebook and Instagram will not have to pay for Meta’s verification plan, but this may change in the future.