Verified social media accounts are sought after by many businesses, influencers and public figures.
The verification symbol is meant to differentiate a genuine or authentic account from a fake or impersonated account.
Is social media verification worth the money? Will it make a difference when interacting with customers?
Let’s find out.
What types of verification are available?
Most social media applications now offer some form of account verification. We’ll discuss the options for Twitter as well as for Meta’s Facebook and Instagram.
Twitter Blue
Twitter offers Twitter Blue. This is a subscription to their premium service.
Twitter Blue offers a variety of features.
- The ability to edit your tweets within 30 minutes.
- Undo Tweet allows you to retract a tweet before the recipient has seen it.
- Longer Tweets up to 4000 characters.
- Custom Twitter App icon.
- Twitter Blue themes and custom navigation allow you to customize your interface.
- Unlimited Bookmarks and Folders to organize and group Bookmarked Tweets.
- NFT Profile Picture option.
- Top Articles show you the most popular/shared articles within your network. This feature lets you stay on top of your market/field and engage your audience with relevant topics.
- Lengthier video upload with the web-only version (up to 60 minutes with a 2GB file size at 1080p).
- Spaces Tab, which provides easier access to Twitter audio content. Access audio stations, podcasts, live spaces, and more.
- Reader allows you to enhance the design of longer Twitter threads. Read these threads with less visual distraction.
- Prioritized conversation ranking.
- Half ads.
- Two-factor authentication for increased security.
To apply for Twitter Blue, your Twitter account must be older than 90 days. You must confirm your phone number, and once you subscribe to Twitter Blue, you cannot change your profile photo, name, or username without losing your verification checkmark. You must get your account validated again to regain the checkmark.
Once an individual or organization pays the fee and meets all eligibility criteria, they are awarded a blue checkmark.
Meta Verification
Meta Verified is a bundle subscription to verify your Instagram and Facebook accounts. This subscription offers exclusive features, account support, increased visibility, and the public verification symbol where available.
Meta Verified protects your account from fake accounts and impersonators. This can help protect your reputation.
Meta Verification will initially be for individuals, not business accounts, and is not readily available as of yet. So to apply, you must join their waitlist. Once Meta Verified is available, more information on the specific features and benefits will be public.
How is paid verification affecting the masses?
Paid verification is a topic of controversy. While many individuals and businesses have already bought into this shift, others question paid verification security improvements.
The New York Times reported on a Twitter Blue misuse when Twitter users could still create fake accounts impersonating brands. Twitter promised adjustments and changes to be made following this event to improve Twitter Blues’ security and verification process.
Twitter users who do not pay for Twitter Blue no longer have access to the two-factor authentication security feature. This makes their accounts less secure, and this change is upsetting to these users.
The Meta Verification is not without controversy either. With this adjustment to paid accounts, Instagram users with free accounts have noticed less-than-satisfying customer service and account support. With many social media platforms shifting to paid accounts, free users may notice their support and customer service requests receive lower priority than before.
Is social media account verification worth the money?
There are a few factors to consider to answer this question. Paid verification can provide higher security, more account support, and increased engagement with your audience. It also gives your social media account more control, flexibility and less noise. This will improve your productivity and efficiency when communicating your marketing message. For these reasons, a paid social media verification may be worth your time and money.
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