Twitter, post the Musk takeover, introduced a paid verification system and it seems like Instagram has been inspired by the move. A new leak reveals that Instagram could also be working on a paid verification system where you pay a certain amount to get a blue verified badge next to your profile.
Recently discovered code snippets by reverse engineer Alessandro Paluzz refer to a “paid blue badge” and a new subscription product. The same reference also appears in the latest build of the Facebook app, indicating that paid verification could be implemented across Meta’s other platforms as well.
Paluzzi shared with TechCrunch, the screenshots in the app’s code that included lines stating “IG_NME_PAID_BLUE_BADGE_IDV” and “FB_NME_PAID_BLUE_BADGE_IDV.” He suggested that, given the context, “IDV” could mean identity verification. He also told the publication that he found “other references to a new type of subscription product that hadn’t been there previously”. The same references were also in one of the latest builds of the Facebook app, he noted.
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However, as nothing is yet visible inside the app, one should take the information with a pinch of salt. We also don’t know yet whether Instagram’s paid verification system would arrive as a one-time fee or would be based on a subscription model, similar to Twitter’s approach.
In related news to Instagram, the app recently launched Quiet Mode to help people focus, and to encourage people to set boundaries with friends and followers. Once enabled, you won’t receive any notifications, and your profile’s activity status will change to ‘In quiet mode’.