Ask Alex

“To blue tick or not to blue tick – is it worth getting my social media verified?”

There was a time when verification on social media was a status symbol. Celebrities and brands held the blue tick on their accounts, proving who they were. Elon Musk opened the floodgate by initially offering it, plus a few extra features, to anyone for $8 (£6.26) a month. Meta (Facebook/Instagram) followed suit, because why wouldn’t they want to make money?

It hasn’t always been this way. Previously, you either had to be a notable public figure at risk of impersonation or have connections at social media companies, who for a small fee would approve your application even if you weren’t a Hollywood or Premier League star.

How much does verification currently cost?

• X(formerly known as Twitter) - £9.60 per month

• Facebook (plus Messenger) - £9.99 per month

• Instagram (plus Threads) - £9.99 per month

TikTok doesn’t charge for verification and has a ‘notable, authentic, active’ verification process for public figures and businesses, as Meta and X used to. Just make sure you subscribe to X or Meta using ID on the web rather than via apps, as the social companies pass on the cuts from app stores across to subscribers.

The blue check is still a symbol of trust, whilst we wait for saturation of verification. Verification still catches the eye and appears as a status symbol. Some people were trolled online for paying for X Blue, but now this seems to have relaxed, and no such backlash came on Meta. Social media has such a problem with trolling and fake accounts that it may become ID-verified in the future, although I can’t see that working with the paid features.

Social companies know they need to offer an improved experience for you as a social media user if you’re paying for verification. For some, the blue tick isn’t enough to justify the cost.

Proactive account protection protects you from impersonation, which can benefit your account if you offer giveaways, or anyone decides to use your profile to scam your followers. Meta does this by scouring accounts with the same basic info and profile picture, so be sure to keep your profiles different if you go verified on one account. When you verify your account on Meta, you can’t go and change the name OR profile picture without going through the verification process again.

X offers a small bump in reach for verified users. Meta-verified profiles did offer this in Australia and New Zealand when the feature was first rolled out but currently don’t. This is certainly something to consider if you are on the fence about getting verified – in the future, social media platforms could be even more competitive when it comes to visibility.

The best thing about getting your Meta account verified is access to support from a human, which, if you’ve tried to contact Instagram or Facebook support before, you’ll know is a big deal.

Is it worth it for aesthetic clinic owners to get verified? If you want to boost your brand and get deeper access to social tools, then yes. Sadly, if you run a business profile, you can’t currently get verified, and I would argue that the budget could be spent on pro features of other useful social media apps, before getting verified. However, if you’ve got a personal account which you use to promote your clinic, I think it should be something to invest in.

Those blue ticks still catch the eye, for now.

ALEX BUGG

Alex Bugg works for Web Marketing Clinic, a familyrun digital agency, which specialises in medical aesthetics. The business builds websites and delivers marketing campaigns for doctors, nurses, dentists, distributors and brands. Contact her: alex@webmarketingclinic.co.uk or follow her on Instagram: @webmarketingclinic