ICYMI: Meta Verified Is the Cost of Doing Business

So why does it feel like such a bad deal?! - February 24, 2023

Feb 24, 2023

Adam Mosseri update on Instagram talking about Meta Verified

💻 ROADMAP

📲 Instagram’s Paid Verification:

Instagram verification used to mean something — you got press mentions; you were so notable people wanted to create fake accounts pretending to be you; or maybe you just knew who to hit up at Meta for a blue check mark.

Now, it means you’re willing and able to pay $15 a month for added reach and customer support. (Join the waitlist here.)

There’s a lot to unpack with Meta Verified and I’m just scratching the surface here but it is likely to become the necessary price of business if you’re a creator who uses Instagram professionally.

The opportunity to get discovered organically is gone. If your competitors have better odds of being seen by potential followers and sponsors because they’re willing to pay for a verified badge, it stands to reason you’re also going to need a checkmark to level the playing field.

That doesn’t mean I like the way it’s being sold to us. In fact, the whole thing is extremely problematic. So, even as I’d recommend paying for Meta Verified, I want to point out the drawbacks:

There’s the price: Meta Verified starts at $11.99 a month on web or $14.99 a month on iOS. Let’s assume that most people will default to iOS since it’s the easiest and most common way people manage their app subscriptions. Fifteen dollars a month isn’t much for top tier creators but it’s a sizeable chunk for aspiring or emerging creators, people on a tight budget and app users in developing nations. Deserving voices will be silenced because they can’t afford to pay for our attention.
For those who say, ‘Why should the app be free?’ That’s a fair point. But we pay for the app everyday with our time, attention and all the free content we provide. And, up until recently, Meta made billions off of this arrangement. Now they want to change the terms of the deal and are packaging this as if we asked for it.
There’s the promise of increased visibility and reach: Instagram is now pay to play. And if you look back at Facebook’s track record, there’s a literal playbook for making things so bad that people are forced to pay for reach.
It also wipes out any previous guidance we got about supporting creators, encouraging quality content and celebrating community. Getting on the Explore page and being discovered is going to come down to dollars and cents.
In the comments of his announcement, Adam Mosseri said he doesn’t think “this will change anything for creators who don’t sign up, but just offers a few benefits for those who choose to.” As I interpret it, that means: If you don’t pay, you’ll continue to struggle with low engagement. If you do pay, you’ll enjoy increased visibility and reach. Those are some pretty major benefits and likely why we’ll see a lot of nano and micro influencers shell out for verification — in addition to the prestige people think a checkmark brings.
There’s the promise of access to a real person: This alone would be worth paying for, even though many people have pointed out that access to support is a basic service that should be free. But I just can’t wrap my head around how Meta is going to make this happen.
There is currently no support for the average app user, creator or business account unless you are spending many millions of dollars. Just talk to anyone who’s lost access to their account. It’s a shit show.
Plus, Meta just laid off 11K people. Now, we’re expected to believe that the staff exists to support this program? Access to a “real person” feels like the biggest promise Meta won’t be able to deliver on. Unless Real Person™ is actually the name of a new AI chat bot.
There’s the verified ID: In theory, submitting a government ID that matches the name and photo you have on Instagram might seem like a good thing. But what about the safety implications of submitting even more data about ourselves to Meta? As one commenter pointed out, what if there’s a security breach, how will the information be protected?
There’s the protection from impersonation: Instagram already seems to play whack-a-mole with spam accounts and impersonators but somehow they’re ready to unleash “proactive monitoring for account impersonation” and this is going to be a game changer for paid accounts. If they already have the capacity to squash fake accounts, why not do that now?
There are the exclusive features: Shrugs… those better be some spectacular custom stickers.

Paid verification isn’t the worst idea. So, how could Mosseri and Mark Zuckerberg have done a better roll out?

Instead of imitating Twitter, they could have modeled themselves on free-mium services like Slack or Zoom.

Don’t tie paid verification to reach and visibility — it creates the perception that success is not based on merit but recurring payments. And don’t provide what should be basic services, like customer support and account safety, for a price. That’s called a protection racket when mobsters do it, joked the Washington Post. Instead, offer incentives to go along with a paid checkmark, like exclusive events, training courses and access to additional premium tools.

UPDATES:

Related:

Social media used to be free. Not anymore. -Vox
Brands have an Instagram engagement problem, and it’s getting worse -Fast Company
Biggest security benefits, risks with new Meta, Twitter verified identity subscriptions -CNBC
Meta Verified Shows a Company Running Out of Ideas -Wired

📲 TikTok Updates:

TikTok is launching a new creator fund that prioritizes longer videos. Named the Creativity Program Beta, the program requires creators who qualify to post “high-quality, original content longer than one minute.” According to a report in The Information, the fund will be limited to creators with at least 100,000 followers, which might warrant a better payout than their current Creator Fund.

📲 YouTube Updates:

YouTube just rolled out access to multi-language audio tracks to more creators worldwide, which means viewers can watch videos dubbed in their primary language.
Podcasts will be added to YouTube Music “in the near future” for users who want to listen to their favorite shows without watching any accompanying videos.

📲 LinkedIn Updates:

LinkedIn’s rolled out an update to the Activity section of your profile, allowing you to choose the content type you want your audience to see first. They’re also adding the option to schedule newsletters as part of an effort to boost newsletter reach and discovery.

📲 Twitter Updates:

Twitter will allow cannabis ads to run on its platform in states where cannabis is legal.
Twitter will no longer allow users to use text message-based two-factor authentication to protect their accounts, unless they’re Twitter Blue subscribers. Slate has an informative “what you need to know” guide.

📣 QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“I felt such fatigue when it came to filming my life. I was like, I make my coffee, I run errands. I’m not jumping out of airplanes! There’s nothing interesting. I got to a point where I was like, I physically can’t do it. It makes me depressed. On top of that, I like having sacred moments throughout my day that aren’t shared with the world, like when I wake up and make coffee”

-Emma Chamberlain shared her thoughts on being a YouTube creator, how much coffee she actually drinks daily (spoiler alert: 5 cups) and what she plans to do next in a New York Times profile: YouTube Made Emma Chamberlain a Star. Now She’s Leaving it Behind.

🔨 RESOURCES

It’s tax season so here are some recent headlines that could be helpful if you're a creator or solopreneur and need to file. And this probably goes without saying but don’t take tax advice from TikTok, mmm-kay?

How to file taxes as a content creator -Passionfruit
8 things most content creators miss on their taxes, according to a CPA -Passionfruit
TikTok can serve up bad tax advice, tax pros warn -Yahoo
The Wild West of Influencer Taxes -Dot.la

📖 ALSO ON MY RADAR…

TikTok owner ByteDance has quietly launched a new app, Lemon8, and is paying creators to post -Insider
MrBeast says YouTube’s new multi-language dub tracks are a “giant win” for creators -TubeFilter
The US Is Finally Dealing With the Exploitation of Child Influencers -CNET
An ex-Instagram employee says Meta's 'impatience' has hurt its shopping efforts -Insider
TikTok was banned on European Commission staff work devices because of cybersecurity concerns -Wall Street Journal
TikTok comes pre-installed in the new Mercedes-Benz E-Class -TikTok
Pinterest Highlights Positive Benefits of Pinterest Use via New Study -Social Media Today
Black influencers are still facing pay inequity -Marketing Brew
TikTok Creators Accuse Carter Agency of Withholding Money for Brand Deals -NYTimes
Microsoft’s Bing is an emotionally manipulative liar, and people love it -The Verge

Note: Last week, someone pointed out the hyperlinks are difficult to distinguish. Substack doesn’t give me the option to underline words so I’m going to bold anything that’s a link and change the accent color. If you’ve seen a better solution on this platform, please let me know!