Twitter to roll out new process for users to get verified

NBC NEWS — Twitter is letting people apply again for blue-and-white checkmarks, inviting what may be a flood of requests from people who’ve asked for years to get a badge of approval from the social media company.

Twitter said Thursday it would begin rolling out a new process to apply for the coveted verification badges, which have been a status symbol on the internet since Twitter unveiled them in 2009. The company granted them in the past to politicians, celebrities, journalists, and other public figures but generally stopped handing them out in 2017 as it considered an overhaul, NBC News reports.

Now, after nearly four years of debate inside and outside Twitter about what it means to verify identity online, the San Francisco-based company said the checkmarks are still valuable to people and will be available again.

People who want to be labeled as verified on Twitter will be able to apply through their phone’s app once a software update takes effect, which will be as soon as Thursday for some people, according to the company. The full rollout may take weeks.

The criteria to be verified are still somewhat strict, according to Twitter’s policy. Applicants need to be notable in fields such as government, entertainment, sports, or political activism, and they need to abide by Twitter’s rules including a ban on the glorification of violence, according to NBC News. Later this year, Twitter said it plans to expand verification to more fields such as scientists, academics, and religious leaders.

Twitter said it has around 199 million daily active users worldwide, of whom about 360,000 are verified.

Last year, Twitter briefly stopped verified accounts from tweeting during a high-profile security breach, and at times the “blue check” has become a derogatory term in political debates online. Facebook has its own version of the blue-and-white checkmark.

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