One of the biggest news stories in tech in 2023 concerns ID verification. This is a feature that social media giants like Twitter and Meta have rolled out recently, with the hopes of gaining benefits like:
-User verification
-Authenticity within their platform
-New revenue streams (since both online ID verification programs require users to pay a recurring fee)
However, these emerging programs aren’t the only way to ensure a more authentic and secure online social media presence. A free online identity verification service like Dentity provides authentication across multiple online platforms including social media, marketplaces, and more.
Opting for a more secure online presence is just one reason to explore these ID verification programs. Today we’ll help by comparing the two popular ID verification services – Twitter Blue and Meta Verified – then show you how using Dentity helps you better protect your privacy and provides control of your online identity.
Why are Social Media Platforms Opting for ID Verification?
There are many reasons why social media platforms have started offering more in-depth ID verification for their users.
User Safety
For years, experts have insisted that ID verification online helps keep social media users safer. Fraud is rampant across social media, with scams involving user impersonation becoming increasingly popular.
It takes almost no work for a malicious user to impersonate another person (either real or fake). Then, they can use that profile to perpetrate romance scams, cryptocurrency scams, and almost any other illegal or dangerous act imaginable.
Platform Authenticity
Increasing user security isn’t the only reason why social media platforms are opting for ID verification. Platform authenticity has become critical since advertiser dollars make up such a large percentage of a social media company’s revenue stream. After Elon Musk’s failed rollout of the initial version of Twitter Blue, advertising spend on the platform dropped by 71%.
Revenue
In addition to protecting users and ensuring increased platform authenticity, ID verification has the potential to become a new and lucrative revenue stream for social media companies.
However, in order for Twitter to replace its advertising revenue, it would need more than 60 million subscribers to its Twitter Blue program, making it difficult to achieve without aggressive marketing.
Comparing Online ID Verification in 2023
With more than 137 million people joining social media last year alone, using some form of user verification is essential. However, each social media platform is approaching it in its own way.
Here’s how their programs stack up.
Twitter Blue
After a rocky launch of Twitter Blue, platform officials announced that they were restarting the program in December 2022. Advertised as a “premium subscription service”, Twitter Blue offers users a variety of enhanced platform features for an annual fee of $114.99 for iOS users.
To use Twitter Blue, users must sign up, pay the fee, then be verified via a confirmed phone number. After that, a blue checkmark is applied to their account as a sign that they have been verified. No government-issued ID is required to get a blue check mark on Twitter.
Any changes to the user’s name, handle, or profile photo will result in the temporary loss of the blue checkmark until the phone number has been reconfirmed.
Meta Verified
Meta Verified was rolled out as a subscription service starting in February 2023. The service costs $179.99 annually on iOS and offers users the chance to submit a government-issued photo ID to Meta in exchange for a blue verification badge on Facebook and Instagram.
While this service does offer the benefit of allowing users to prove that they are who they say they are, its cost is not insignificant. This means that many people will simply choose not to enroll.
Additionally, some cybersecurity experts are worried that cybercriminals will still be able to impersonate users, adding more credibility to these authenticated accounts that may make an unsuspecting victim more likely to trust them and put themselves at risk.
Dentity
Fortunately, ID verification is now available online in a format that can be used across social media, virtual marketplaces, dating apps, and more.
While you will have to pay nearly $295 annually to be verified on both Twitter and Meta, Dentity is an entirely free online identity verification service designed to keep people safe online.
Through our secure process, users can easily prove their identity using an ID, then share their unique online ID verification with anyone who requests it. This means that it’s easy to prove that you are who you say you are when you’re meeting someone for a first date, buying something online, or even just getting to know a new friend digitally.
Once your identity is verified, the information stays in your digital wallet – no more sharing your ID with a company only to find it vulnerable following a hack or data breach.
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