Instagram is always adding on new features and changes, but you can’t expect all of them to be accepted. According to a new leak from Alessandro Paluzzi, Instagram might be working on bringing a paid verification program.
If sounds familiar, then you were there for Twitter’s drama surrounding the same thing. Last year, Elon Musk made the verification checkmark a perk of Twitter Blue. This pretty much defeated the point of the verification check mark, and it cause some real financial issues.
Now, Instagram might bring its own paid verification program
This comes from code deep within the Instagram app, so you’ll want to take this with a grain of salt. There’s telling if the company will go through with this.
Paluzzi is a noted Instagram leaker who has a bunch of information on future features and changes coming. He recently shared some code deep within the app. It says IG_NME_PAID_BLUE_BADGE_IDV. The “IG” stands for Instagram, and the rest of the line speaks for itself. It looks like the company will have a paid program that will give them a blue verification badge (why did it have to be blue?). The “IDV” could stand for “ID verification”, according to TechCrunch.
Instagram already has a verification program that puts a blue checkmark beside users’ names. This is a sign that the account is legitimately from the public figure it says. However, these strings hint at it costing money.
Now, before you your frustration at Adam Mosseri, Instagram’s CEO, it looks like this is a Meta decision rather than an Instagram one. Along with the aforementioned string, we also see FB_NME_PAID_BLUE_BADGE_IDV. It’s the same string, but it starts with “FB”, and that stands for Facebook.
So, it seems that Meta is calling the shots here. The company has been dealing with some major financial issues over the last year. Not too long ago, the company had to cut about 11,000 jobs, and we can’t forget about the billions it lost over VR/AR. Bringing this paid verification might be an attempt to help stave off some of these losses.