The era of free social media is vanishing faster than a post from an unverified user.

From American public media, this is Marketplace Tech.

I'm Megan McCarty-Karino.

Meta has jumped on the Blue Badge bandwagon last week the company announced a new paid

verification service for Facebook and Instagram at a price of $11.99 a month per app, mind

you.

And if that sounds familiar, well, maybe you've heard of the new and improved Twitter

Blue, which will cost you $8 a month.

Part of a trend of social media platforms turning to user fees instead of just advertising

dollars.

They used to say that if you're not paying for the product, the product is you.

Well, if you are paying for social media now, what exactly is the product?

Shereen Gaffari is a correspondent for Vox who recently wrote about the benefits and

trade-offs that come with that Blue Badge.

In Facebook's case, you're getting increased customer service.

So if someone, let's say, hacks you or you can't get into your account, you can actually

call up someone and get help.

They're also offering you a badge, basically, signifying to the world that you are who

you say you are.

And then they are also offering you, I think, most importantly, more eyeballs, more reach,

more attention.

So if you're an influencer, you're someone who runs a business on Facebook or Instagram,

...