If you're considering shelling out for a blue checkmark on Facebook or Instagram through Meta's new 'Meta Verified' program in order to artificially inflate your relevance in either app, then we have a deal for you.

Now Meta is offering a brand new package that's going to allow you to save money when you sign up to Meta Verified on both platforms, so you get to have a blue tick across all of your Meta posts for the low, low price of…

Okay, $42 per month – or $504 per year – ain’t exactly cheap. But the numbers in this example, posted by Jonah Manzano, are in Australian dollars, so the bundle will be cheaper again in the US (probably). So now, you’ll be able to boost your in-app perception, and trick people into thinking you’re a celebrity, for less than the initial $US11.99 per month for each element.

But it is still pretty pricey. Okay, that's the cost of even pseudo-celebrity status, I guess, and you do have to subscribe to Meta Verified on a per-app basis. Ideally, you could just get verified in one, then have a blue tick on both, but Meta's made it so that you have to sign up for each individually, in order to squeeze more money out of those who really want to seem important, and use their checkmark to increase the status in the app.

Which, as you can tell by my tone, I do not think is the best way to go. Selling verification ticks is a sure fire path to eroding the very value of the offering, with the marker gradually losing all relevance, as anybody can now just buy that little symbol.

It still probably has a bit more utility on IG and Facebook, because Meta hasn't taken the next step, like Twitter did, in removing legacy checkmarks, which means that the only ones remaining in the app are paid for. So that means Meta Verified customers are still able to cosplay among the actual high-profile users, while the Meta Verified program also offers dedicated, in-person customer support, which is a big benefit for some subscribers.

But it still is not worth it. People will increasingly be skeptical of what the checkmark now means, and as cynicism grows, they'll come to rely on it far less as an indicator of … well anything really.

But some will still see it as a flex, some people will still get excited about seeing the tick next to their username, and the number of people who will pay will likely justify the program, as it will on Twitter too.
But it's losing its value among the people who actually make it relevant, in terms of actual celebrities, who it's now become less beneficial for -- celebrities who bring users to these apps and drive massive amounts of engagement.

Which, now that you think about it, is an odd business choice.