The coveted Blue Check Mark, a sign of a certain social media status, membership into an elite club of verification. Platforms dangled these haute emblems to commoners, an aspirational symbol of digital legitimacy. Recently I started getting message on my Instagram account asking me to verify my account. I stopped posting on IG in 2017, at best I irregularly use Stories and have never posted a Reel. The message was a bit odd. For 16 euros a month, I could get verified, no longer a “A Digital No Person”, suddenly a somebody with my eight hundred or so followers. It is no secret Meta has suffered from a tough economy and some heavy VR investment losses. But to cheapen their most valued commodity to raise fast money is a peculiar plan.
Elon Musk’s Twitter started the cash for easier verification trend. The world’s second richest man overpriced buyout of the text based site came at high price with a low cash flow cupboard. Zuckerberg’s picture sharing site soon followed suite playing on its 2.3 billions monthly users hunger for esteem in the InstaFame galaxy. It asks the question, if person only to pay for for the Blue Check, then perhaps it is not so valuable after all.
