[yoodenvranx]

Have a look at reddit.com/r/bodybuilding and see how many Instagram pictures are posted there everyday. Especially stuff like bodybuilding or the female fitness models are all about status. Or search on Youtube for "Rich kids of instagram", all of them would buy status badges like that. Also the whole hypercar and car tuning scene on Instagram is all about status.

And if kids see the 500$ black VIP badge of their Instagram heros then they will most certainly invest 5$ or 10$ to get at least a low level badge.

[untog]

Sure. But the way people use Instagram and the way Instagram officially endorses using their product are two different things. If they internalized expensive badges I suspect it would damage their brand quite a lot.