"Facebook is free and always will be."
So he recited the writing on the homepage of what, for a long time, was the main social network in the world.
But, as we know, 'forever' often collides with harsh reality: Meta, the company that owns Facebook and Instagram, is ready to launch a paid subscription that will allow users to 'verify' their identity.
The decision closely follows that of Twitter: in short, Mark Zuckerberg follows Elon Musk.
It is the Meta CEO himself who makes the announcement on his profile: for $11.99 a month - $14.99 if purchased through the iOS app - Meta Verified will allow users to "authenticate their account with a document, have a blue check,
Meta's announcement comes after the economic difficulties that the Silicon Valley company has had to face in the last period.
In November, 11,000 employees had lost their jobs, 13% of the total: the largest layoff in the company's history.
Maybe Zuckerberg will be better off than Musk who initially had to pull the idea after a wave of fake accounts scared advertisers and cast doubt on the site's future.
The CEO of Twitter had then quietly relaunched it in December.
The controversies had been many.
Among the VIPs most annoyed by having to pay to have their tweets verified, there was Stephen King: "Twenty dollars a month for my blue check? Screw them, they should pay me," the best-selling writer tweeted.
"
We have to pay the bills somehow - Musk replied -.
Twitter cannot rely solely on advertising.
How about 8 dollars?". Exactly the amount that is now paid on the bird's social network. The company's move had also irritated the Democrat deputy Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: it is funny, she wrote, "that a billionaire is seriously trying to sell people the idea that 'free speech' is actually an eight dollar a month membership," AOC said. Musk's quick response: "I appreciate the feedback, it's eight dollars." , on Zuckerberg's Facebook account, there are those who joke about this: "Enough is enough!
I go to Twitter, where the blue check is only $8 a month,"