FACEBOOK AND INSTAGRAM WILL NOW COST 11.99 OR 14.99 USD PER MONTH
- WWHISPER
- Feb 22, 2023
- 3 min read
Things are not going well for parent company Meta. Earlier this month, it released its quarterly figures. These show that it has lost significant revenue over several quarters. In November 2022, Meta has laid off 11,000 employees worldwide which amounts to a 13% reduction in its workforce ( see an earlier article on this matter ) but that is apparently not enough to save the sinking ship.
However, Mark Zuckenberg would not be Mark Zuckenberg if he did not come up with a solution. Sunday 19 February 2023, he announced that Meta is introducing a paid subscription for its platforms that will allow users to pay for a verified account, among other things.
Such subscription will cost $11.99 a month for those who subscribe via an internet browser and $14.99 if the subscription is purchased via a Meta IOS app. Why there is a price difference between one formula and the other has not been communicated.
According to Mark, this new formula Meta Verified would aim to increase the authenticity and security of its services.
That there is a major problem with the authenticity of Facebook and Instagram since many years is common knowledge since long. The social platforms are soakend with fake profiles and users using up to 150 artificial accounts. Facebook's own fact checkers also eagerly expploit it.
However, it should be clear that the intended improvement in users' authenticity and security is just a pretext. It is solely about money and.... control.
Indeed, a verified account can only be created with a recto verso scan of your identity card. The profile name and photo must match the name and photo on the identity card. Moreover, the user must be at least 18 years old and have a previous messaging history. This means that a lot of current users will be left out and no longer have access to Facebook and Instagram. All those under 18 will be excluded and all those who have never had an account on either or both social media in a previous stage will also be put aside.
Verified accounts will receive a blue badge on their profile (following the steps of Twitter who, at Elon Musk's instigation, are also coming out with a paid formula called Twitter Blue ) and can enjoy extra service. Namely, they get extra protection from Meta against impersonation. How impersonation is still possible with profiles that can only be created with an ID card is not mentioned.
Subscribers also get direct access to a live support agent for account issues and greater reach and visibility on the platform. In other words,if you are a paying subscriber your posts will be shown to other users and otherwise not.
The formulas have already been introduced this week in Australia and New Zealand;
Who will use these paying formulas in the first place ?
The politicians, of course, who today use the money from their party savings for paid advertising on Facebook and Instagram, all the celebrities who may also want to allocate a budget for this and companies that want to promote their products and long for more visibility. For ordinary citizens, on the other hand, a monthly budget of 11.99 USD or 14.99 USD respectively is an expensive joke. They will not use the new formulas.
How will this story continue ?
For now, the paying formula is still a free choice but it won't be long before it becomes the default rule. No verified account ? No access. And so, in the foreseeable future, Meta will have all the private data of every user that it can use and abuse at its own discretion. Even more than it does so far, without permission and even without the knowledge of its users whose data are sold to third parties since many years.
Will Meta and her Metaverse project succeed ? No. The vast majority will drop out and seek refuge on other platforms where they will also have to pay (free is over) but at least have the certainty that their data will not be sold, used and abused.
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