While getting your username verified on Instagram and Facebook used to be only an option for public figures like celebrities or famous authors, today everybody can get Meta verified and get that blue badge next to their name, if you pay a monthly fee.
When I first saw this, I really wasn’t interested in signing up for it. It looked like a total vanity thing to me.
That is until I found a bunch of messages in my inbox that someone had created a fake Instagram account in my name and was trying to contact my followers to scam them!!
I was totally shocked – why and how did this happen? I’m not a celebrity or famous in any way and I only have a little bit over 5,000 followers on Instagram. So what should I do?
As I found out, the best thing I could do was to bite the bullet and pay to get Meta verified and it’s what I did.
What is Meta Verified?
Meta Verified is a paid subscription service that allows users to verify their identity on Facebook and Instagram. A Meta Verified subscription costs $14.99/month when you sign up through the Instagram app, less when you do it on the web, and you must sign up separately for Instagram and Facebook (you save a little bit if you pay for the bundle).
The service includes a verified badge, which confirms that the account is authentic and belongs to the person or entity it represents. Meta says that it also includes proactive account protection, access to account support, and increased visibility and reach (we’ll see about that).
Right now, Meta Verified is only available to individuals, not brands. As I understand it this means that you can’t get the Meta Verified badge for your yoga studio or a brand that isn’t your personal name.
What You Get When You Get Meta Verified
Verification
With a verified badge your community will know that it’s the real you and that your account is authentic. This can help build trust in your services and maybe even lead to increased sales.
Access to Account Support
If you have any problems with your account, you should be able to get help from a real person through Meta’s customer support team. This can be immensely helpful if you need to recover your account or if you’re experiencing any other issues. I’m not sure how available the support is, I heard it’s still difficult to reach someone, but it should be easier than without the Meta Verification.
Increased Visibility And Reach
Getting Meta Verified is supposed to increase the visibility and reach of your posts and stories. The specifics are not yet clear, but they say that your posts will be more likely to show up in search results and in the “suggested for you” section. I haven’t been verified long enough to notice a difference and my guess is that it’ll be minimal. They also say that Subscribers with a smaller following may see a more noticeable impact to their reach since their audiences are smaller.
Proactive Account Protection
Meta monitors your account for suspicious activity and takes steps to protect it, including blocking unauthorized login attempts and detecting fake accounts. This is a huge benefit and the main reason why I decided to get the Meta Verified badge, since someone created a fake account in my name and I wasn’t able to do anything about it.
Exclusive Features
You get exclusive stickers on Stories and Reels across Facebook and Instagram, and where available 100 Stars a month on Facebook so you can show your support for other creators. To be honest this sounds a bit gimmicky and not like something you really need.
How to get the Meta Verified Badge
Meta Verified is currently expanding globally for people 18 years or older and is not yet available for businesses. It might not be available in your country yet and you can only use it if you use your full name name as your profile name and a profile picture that shows your face. You also need to have Two-factor authentication enabled on your profile (which you definitely should have in any case).
Although it’s called “Meta Verified,” you still have to apply (and pay) separately on Instagram and Facebook if you want to verify accounts on both platforms.
Here’s how to get verified through the Instagram app:
- Click on your profile picture in the bottom right to go to your profile and click the menu icon at the top right. If Meta Verified is available for your profile, you will see “Meta Verified”.
- Tab “Subscribe” and set up your payment method for your monthly payment.
- To complete the verification process you need to provide a government-issued photo ID and where available a selfie video to confirm your identity before being approved for a Meta Verified subscription.
- Meta checks your details and will approve your Meta Verification within 48 hours. If your verification was unsuccessful, you can try again after the refund process is complete.
Note that once you’re verified, you cannot change your username, profile name, date of birth, or photo on your account (unless you want to re-do the verification process).
Should You Get Meta Verified?
You might think that like me you’re not in any way famous or “big enough” to worry about this and can save the expense.
But when you are a personal brand and your business is under your name, and you use Instagram and/or Facebook as a marketing tool, I think you should bite the bullet and invest into getting Meta Verified. It’s the best way to protect your brand and business and all your hard work and it might even help you grow and get more sales, so hopefully it’ll pay for itself along the way.
Note that you only can get Meta Verified if you use your full name as your account name and a picture of you as your profile picture. This also means that you can’t change your username or your profile picture!
I got Meta Verified to protect my brand and business against impersonators who create fake accounts, since this happened to me. Do I think it would be great if Meta would have better protection in place without me having to pay for it? Definitely, but it is what it is. And if I want to use their platforms in my marketing, I want to make sure that I protect myself in the best way possible and right now getting Meta verified is the best way to do that.
