Twitter opens verified accounts, starts taking applications

Less than one percent of all Twitter accounts are currently verified, so your chances are slim

Twitter has been suffering with a user growth problem for so long now that it has likely led many to forget some of the platform's real strengths, and the reason it became so popular in the first place. 

One of Twitter's best selling points has always been breaking down the barrier between celebrity and fan, allowing normal people to potentially have a conversation with a famous person. That's something it can offer that no other network can.

That really only works, though  if the user actually believes that they are conversing with a celebrity, and that's where verification comes in. It lets those fans know that they aren't talking to an imposter. 

On Tuesday the company announced a big change to its verification process in order to help expand it, creating an online application process for Twitter accounts to receive verified status. Previously, Twitter would take it upon itself to find those accounts that it decided needed verification. Now the company will can speed up that process by having them come to it. 

Verified accounts typically belong to famous people, or what Twitter describes as "public figures and organizations in music, TV, film, fashion, government, politics, religion, journalism, media, sports, business, and other key interest areas."

Basically, these are accounts that users might try to pose as to drive up their own followers. So, if you want to follow Justin Beiber, for example, the little blue check mark lets you know what it is, in fact, Biebs himself you are talking to, and not some guy with Cheeto-stained fingers, sitting in his underwear in his mom's basement. Or, at least not some other guy doing that. 

So, does this mean that your account is suddenly going to get verified? Probably not, if we're being totally honest here. Verification is still reserved for people important enough to warrant something like that. There have still only been 187,000 verified accounts on the site, out of 310 million. That's less than one percent of all users. So chances are slim.

"We want to make it even easier for people to find creators and influencers on Twitter so it makes sense for us to let people apply for verification," Tina Bhatnagar, Twitter's vice president of User Services, said in a statement. "We hope opening up this application process results in more people finding great, high-quality accounts to follow, and for these creators and influencers to connect with a broader audience."

Still, you can certainly try and, hey, who knows what can happen? Maybe you, like Oprah and Lady Gaga, can be one of those rare creatures.

This is what you need to apply: a verified phone number, a confirmed email address, a bio, a profile photo, a header photo, a birthday, a website, and Tweets set as public in Tweet privacy settings.

Profiles that get selected are typically those that, if the account belongs to a person, reflects the real or stage name of the person. If the account is a corporation or company account, the name has to reflect the real name of the corporation or company. Also, the profile also has to include a photo that is actually the real person, or the real company logo.

If are going to try to get verified, just remember a few things: first, if you do get that blue check mark it doesn't mean you are automatically going to get thousands of new followers. You will not become an influencer overnight.

Also, even if you do, it also won't shield you from potential abuse. Look at what happened to Ghostbusters star Leslie Jones over the weekend, when she was forced off the site by racist users. Nobody is going to respect you just because they think you're somebody; in fact the opposite it probably true. 

VatorNews reached out to Twitter for additional comment. We will update this story if we learn more. 

(Image source: youtube.com)