Identity Matters
Welcome
The company behind Facebook just announced a new premium subscription model, where you pay for your Facebook account and the payment includes some add-on services that you don't currently receive.
Dear Reader,
The company behind Facebook just announced a new premium subscription model, where you pay for your Facebook account and the payment includes some add-on services that you don't currently receive. I always wondered if a subscription service might be a better model for media giants like Facebook. After all, they do provide a service to their subscribers – maybe asking people to pay directly is better than selling user data and acting as a conduit for targeted advertising.
After the encouraging headline, however, I was disappointed to see that this new subscription-based service does not make your data more private or your online presence less ad-choked. The principal purpose of your for-pay Facebook page is to make sure you are you and not somebody else. The service will provide a "verification badge," showing that you have presented a government ID to ensure that you are who you say you are. The goal is to offer some protection from rogue users pretending to be you.
[...]
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