Twitter announced on Tuesday, July 19, that it has created an online application process for users who want to receive Blue Checkmark verified status for their Twitter accounts.
In a press release, the company explained that the verified accounts are denoted by a blue badge icon and they have the role to allow people identifying key organizations and individuals on Twitter as authentic. Accounts benefiting the most from the verification process are those Twitter accounts of public interest. Among them are included accounts maintained by public figures and organizations in politics, government, fashion, TV, music, film, media, journalism, business, sports, religion and other key interest areas.
According to Tina Bhatnagar, Twitter's vice president of User Services, by introducing the verification process available to all users, the social media network aims to make it even easier for its users to find influencers and creators on Twitter. The company hopes that more people will be able to find high-quality accounts to follow, by opening up this application process. This will also help influencers and creators on the social media platform to connect with a larger audience.
Back in the year 2009, Twitter was the first social media network to introduce account verification. Up to date there are close to 187,000 verified accounts on Twitter. For instance, in order to help citizens find authentic and accurate public health information, the @CDCgov was among the first accounts on Twitter to be verified.
The application process for Blue Checkmark verified accounts on Twitter has started rolling out on Tuesday, July 19, and will continue globally this week. Twitter explains the verification process in detail on their Help Center page.
According to the online publication Slate, this move comes among other Twitter updates that mark the fact that the social media platform turned 10 years old in March. A series of changes to the platform followed this landmark, including an algorithmic timeline, support for larger GIFs and longer tweets.
