Instagram may be working on a paid blue badge verification feature

Instagram may be working on a feature that will allow users to pay for verification, just like Twitter. This is evident from code that refers to a ‘paid blue badge’. Instagram has not yet confirmed the existence of such a feature.

In addition to ‘paid blue badge’, the code strings consist of the abbreviation ‘idv’. Developer Alessandro Paluzzi, who discovered the code, expects that to refer to “identification,” he tells TechCrunch. The same code sequence has also been added to the latest build of the Facebook app, according to the developer, which may mean that Meta’s paid cross-platform verification option will be introduced. Furthermore, Paluzzi says that he has also found other references in the code to a subscription service that were not there before, but that is not discussed in detail.

This is very similar to the paid verification function that Twitter introduced at the end of last year. The so-called Blue subscription costs $ 8 per month and in addition to giving users a blue check mark in front of their name, they can also edit tweets, enable read mode and upload longer videos in 1080p resolution. They also see half as many advertisements.