Twitter Verification Just Got Interesting

In social media, a little blue badge next to someone’s name means they have been verified. It differentiates the person or business as the real deal and not a copycat or crazed fan. Twitter has been verifying accounts for a while. Facebook began distributing badges last fall and Instagram is about to join the verification club.

I get pretty stoked when blue check people follow me like YouTube vlogger, Jenna Marbles. She has 3.75 million followers! That’s her dog, not Jenna.

For a few days, *I pinned my tweet, “How to Get the Little Blue Check On Twitter,” and received a DM (direct message) from someone who has over 200,000 followers. Whoa. He has a lot of fans!

Anyway, he said someone had DM’d him with an offer to sell him verification. The coveted badge could be his for one hundred and fifty dollars. He wanted my opinion. I told him it was probably a scam. Then I Googled Twitter verification and found this:

February 6th, 2015 – As quoted on CNBC: “For $1 a year or something like that,” Calacanis said, “users will soon be able pay for a blue checkmark to appear on their accounts.”

See? Everyone calls it a blue check. It’s really white with a blue background.

Why would Twitter executives want everyone to become verified and important-like? Wouldn’t that ruin it?

“Calacanis said that when people pay for verification, they’ll be forced to input their credit card information, making it easier for Twitter to entice them into paying for other things, “like buying a subscription toThe New York Times or buy a Netflix subscription.”

It all comes down to money.

In the meantime, there are scammers out there. Beware of anyone who DM’s you with an offer to verify your account.

I found this on AdWeek:

David Armano, global strategy director for Edelman Digital, says he simply received an email asking him to click through to activate his verification, a process that left him with little advice to those aspiring to verified greatness. He felt chosen.

In the same article, David Griner says that begging won’t get you verified.

And like I said in my previous article, it makes no difference how many followers you have or how many you’re following. Those numbers do not impress Twitter VIPs who pick and choose who’s important like a bouncer picking through a long line outside a club in NYC. So follow-me back next time. Okay?

This is from FAQ’s about verified accounts:

“Twitter verifies accounts on an ongoing basis to make it easier for users to find who they’re looking for. We concentrate on highly sought users in music, acting, fashion, government, politics, religion, journalism, media, sports, business, and other key interest areas. We are constantly updating our requirements for verification. Note, verification does not factor in follower count or Tweet count.

We do not accept requests for verification from the general public. If you fall under one of the above categories and your Twitter account meets our qualifications for verification, we may reach out to you in the future.”

It comes down to how sought after you are and if there are other false accounts claiming to be you out there in Twitterland. I don’t plan on checking my email every five minutes to see if I get verification instructions, but I will continue to get stoked when blue check people follow me. Who knows, maybe someday soon, most of us will have a little blue check. I’d buy it for a dollar!

Do you think it’s a good idea for Twitter to sell verification for a dollar? Would you buy it?

 *You can pin one of your tweets from your profile. It will come up as an option after clicking on the “…” icon.