Meta Launches Subscription Service in US (reuters.com) 31
Meta on Friday launched its subscription service in the U.S., which would allow Facebook and Instagram users pay for verification in the same vein as Elon Musk-owned Twitter. From a report: The Meta Verified service will give users a blue badge after they verify their accounts using a government ID and will cost $11.99 per month on the web or $14.99 a month on Apple's iOS system and Google-owned Android, Meta said in a statement. The service, which Meta said it was testing in February, follows in the footsteps of Snapchat as well as messaging app Telegram and marks the latest effort by a social media company to diversify its revenue away from advertising.
Oh wow, I can't wait! (Score:5, Funny)
I can PAY Facebook to be fully deanonymized? I'm in! Where do I sign?
Re:Oh wow, I can't wait! (Score:5, Insightful)
I can PAY Facebook to be fully deanonymized? I'm in! Where do I sign?
You're being facetious but you seem to forget, the world is full of idiots. Facebook is only introducing this features because Musk has shown there's a market for it.
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You make it sound as though Musk showed Fuckerberg it's possible to monetize gullible people. But I think you'll find it was the other way round [elle.com].
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Re:Oh wow, I can't wait! (Score:4, Insightful)
You make it sound as though Musk showed Fuckerberg it's possible to monetize gullible people. But I think you'll find it was the other way round [elle.com].
There's a difference between handing over data and money. Most people don't give 2 shits about their data but wouldn't hand over even $5 if they could avoid it. That is what makes paying for checkmarks so significant.
Zuckerberg may have started down this road, but Musk showed just how far you can push the envelope. Social media was always predicated on having to monetise users, no one anticipated they'd be happy to get billed directly.
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Why would anyone want a "blue badge" on their account and what would make it worth paying extra for?
What does verification do for you....don't you get verified when you log on by typing in the correct password?
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The Meta Verified service will give users a blue badge after they verify their accounts using a government ID
It proves you are who you say you are.
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Ok...I guess this must be a big deal for some people.
I would think most folks would want to be more anonymous, especially from all the crap I hear people post on those things....
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The Meta Verified service will give users a blue badge after they verify their accounts using a government ID
It proves you are who you say you are.
That was the original intent. It turned into something much worse. It ended up becoming a kind of weird nobility system of titles and rank, conferred by Twitter employees to protect and promote those they favored, and to punish those they didn't.
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What does verification do for you....don't you get verified when you log on by typing in the correct password?
Here was the problem with Elon's plan. https://techcrunch.com/2022/11... [techcrunch.com] And the free insulin tweet because anyone could buy a blue check. https://www.forbes.com/sites/b... [forbes.com]
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Why would anyone want a "blue badge" on their account and what would make it worth paying extra for?
For normal discourse, I can't imagine a lot. But I gotta admit I'd have parted with $8 happily to make something like this https://www.forbes.com/sites/p... [forbes.com]
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I can see it being useful for businesses. "See we really are 'Home Depot' and that 'Home Dept' guy selling discount power tools isn't even verified."
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The only legit use-case I can see for this is if you're a celebrity on Facebook and you don't want fake accounts pretending to be you posting stuff you never posted. But Facebook should really be shutting those accounts down, not trying to get money from legitimate people.
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Why would anyone want a "blue badge" on their account and what would make it worth paying extra for?
There's no good reason unless you make money on social media. Tens of thousands do, at least.
What does verification do for you....don't you get verified when you log on by typing in the correct password?
It differentiates you from the trolls and scammers who are trying to impersonate you. I mean, not you, but people worth impersonating.
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LOL...good one!!
Have a great weekend Drinkypoo....
See ya next week.
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Why would anyone want a "blue badge" on their account and what would make it worth paying extra for?
Been to a theme park recently? People will pay significantly more just for a slightly closer parking space. Then of course, once you get inside the park it's an entire day filled with... walking.
Re:Oh wow, I can't wait! (Score:4)
Musk is not the stable genius you seem to think. Twitter moved away from being verified by hand, to being verified because you paid. Anyone can claim to be @theRealSlimShady if they pay the fee. They're taking verification out of the picture because the literally laid off all the people who used to do this. So the new Twitter badge means nothing more than that you paid. It's also not popular, and people still rely on the old badge (despite Musk claiming he'd get rid of it).
Twitter is precarious right now more so than before Musk bought it with his ego, it is highly unlikely other industry bosses every look to him for leadership on this.
Meta's plan also comes with more than Twitter, making it more valuable than a Twitter badge - they will have impersonation protection and customer support access. Not supporting Meta here, but if I did have an identity and wanted it to be verified, the Twitter model feels broken compared to having having customer support behind it.
Industry wide, if advertising revenue dries up, of they decide they don't want to be a mad-men advertising agency anymore, then they're all going to come up with the idea of having fees. There really aren't other opportunities for cash from what is basically a bulletin board service.
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There really aren't other opportunities for cash from what is basically a bulletin board service.
They could paywall some features, they could take a cut from marketplace listings, they could add new services and paywall those. As more and more people install adblockers to defend themselves from all the various bad things about advertisements, they're going to have to figure out a new revenue stream anyway.
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At last! (Score:2)
So When does Slashdot offer a Verified AC Posts? (Score:3)
Since it seems to become the norm to get users to pay for verification, When does Slashdot start offering Verified Anonymous Coward Posts :p ?
additional ideas for a premium service:
_ Discounts for Car analogies
_ Display prices converted in Library of congress
_ Dupes Deduplication service
_ Discount for low user IDs
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Slashdot could offer different tiers...
$9.99/month - limit of three dupes/week
$18.99/month - max two dupes per week
$49.99/month - no dupes + Monthly CowboyNeal custom-edited dupe report
Let me join the chorus of ... (Score:2)
Why the f*ck should this be a subscription? (Score:2)
Why the FFFF should this be a subscription? Elon is desperate for Twitter to have cash flow every month, but FB doesn't need to do that... You don't STOP becoming who you say you are... Just charge a $100 one-time fee, I bet they would net a lot more revenue and it would be a "we're better than Elon" moment for them.
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