A screenshot of the Meta Verified toggle. | Image: Meta
Instagram is testing a toggle that lets you only see posts from Meta Verified users, according to Instagram head Adam Mosseri on Monday. “We’re exploring this as a new control for people and a way for businesses and creators to get discovered,” Mosseri wrote on his broadcast channel.
For those in the test, the new Meta Verified toggle will appear as an option under “Following” and “Favorites” when you tap the Instagram logo at the top of the app. The prominence of the toggle could make paying for Meta Verified, which costs $11.99 on the web or $14.99 in an app, a more attractive proposition as it gives people a new way to try and appear more prominently in an Instagram feed. However, people who are legacy verified badge holders — who haven’t paid for a verified badge — will show up in the verified feed, too, according to spokesperson Matt Tye.
Mosseri’s post didn’t say how big the test is or who might have access to it, though he did encourage people to “let us know if you’d be interested in using this.” Tye characterized the test as a “small” one available to “select Instagram users.”
Earlier this year, Meta introduced its Meta Verified program for Instagram and Facebook, which gives subscribers things like a blue verification checkmark, better customer support, and protection from impersonation. The company started testing it in Australia and New Zealand first, brought it to the US a month later, and announced in September that Meta Verified would be available for business accounts.
Meta announced the program a few months after X, formerly Twitter, introduced paid verification with disastrous results. As part of X Premium, subscribers appear higher up in conversations and search, which has generally made scrolling through replies on X much worse.
Update October 24th, 9:28PM ET: Clarified some details of the test based on information from a Meta spokesperson.
