Twitter’s blue verification checkmark, that veritable modern symbol of cool (or press credentials), could soon grace the space beside your Twitter handle.
Starting today, the social media platform will open verification up to anyone to apply.
Verification on Twitter is meant for public figures like politicians and athletes to show that their accounts really belong to them. But the process of getting the coveted check has generally been opaque, requiring a personal contact and shadowy criteria, with checks bestowed or denied without explanation.
The process is now open to the public, which will surely raise the bar from the deeply enlightened Twitter fights between people who are who they say.
To apply, Twitter requires you to have:
- verified phone number
- confirmed email address
- bio
- profile photo
- header photo
- birthday
- website
- public tweets
- two sites that confirm your identity
- an explanation of why you should be verified
The platform currently has around 187,000 verified accounts. It’s not clear whether making the process public will mean that the criteria themselves will change.