Instagram may be working on paid verification feature with blue badge

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 it to refer to ‘identification’, he tells TechCrunch. The same set of code has also been added to the latest build of the Facebook app, according to the developer, which may mean the introduction of Meta’s multi-platform paid verification option. Paluzzi also says that he has also found other references to a subscription service in the code that were not there before, but this is not discussed in more 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 reading mode and upload longer videos in 1080p resolution. They also see half as many advertisements.