Instagram Verified Badge: Keep, Redefine or Retire It?

You are a product manager at Instagram. Leadership is weighing whether Instagram should stop supporting verified accounts, the badge that tells people an account really belongs to the public figure, creator or brand it claims to be, and they have asked you to make the call. What do you do? Walk through why the proposal might have come up, who depends on the badge and how, what evidence you would gather and how each finding would change your decision, and what you would recommend and how you would carry it out. ```hint Start with why now Find out what triggered the proposal (the cost of reviewing requests, confusion about what the badge means, scams that exploit it, or a change in strategy) before judging it. Keep in mind that the badge serves two audiences: the accounts that hold it and the much larger group of people deciding which accounts to trust. ``` ### Clarifying Questions - What prompted the proposal: the cost of reviewing verification requests, confusion about what the badge means, scams that use badges or look-alike badges, or a broader strategy change? - Does the question cover only badges granted to notable accounts, or also any paid verification offering for creators and businesses? - Is the choice strictly keep or remove, or can I recommend changing who qualifies and what the badge signals? - Are there account types or regions, such as public officials or journalists around elections, where impersonation is already a known problem? ### What a Strong Answer Covers - A diagnosis of why removal is on the table and which problem the decision is meant to solve. - The badge's value to each group: badge holders (protection from impersonators, credibility with followers and brand partners), everyday users judging whether an account is real, advertisers, and Instagram's trust and safety position. - Evidence tied to the decision, such as impersonation and scam reports, how the badge changes what users follow or trust, and review cost, read with care for correlation versus causation in badge-holder metrics. - A clear recommendation that compares removal with options such as narrowing or redefining the badge, including competitive and reputational consequences. - An execution plan with success metrics and guardrails for impersonation, scams and badge-holder trust. ### Follow-up Questions - Research shows most users cannot say what the badge means. Do you remove it, rename it or explain it, and how would you test that choice? - How would you detect early that a change to verification is increasing impersonation scams? - Leadership decides to remove the badge despite your recommendation. How do you roll it out while protecting the accounts most likely to be impersonated?