Verified accounts on social media always stand out, thanks to the much coveted ‘blue badge’. They are considered authentic and credible, especially in the wake of imposters and pseudo accounts.
Besides the pride and class that comes with verification of one’s account, the blue tick also guarantees more followers as users tend to favor such accounts for their credibility and believability.
However, the process of verification is still complex to many. Twitter has a set of guidelines that must be followed for one to be verified.
Authentic
Key among these considerations is the authenticity of the user's identity. Twitter is keen on establishing the identity details of the user as a measure to sieve out impersonators.
This can be achieved by submitting government identification documents like identity cards and national passports. This applies to users running individual accounts and seeking to verify them.
For organizations, a link to the official website is required for the verification request to be considered. Alternatively, official email addresses with distinct domains can be used.
Prominence
Twitter also gauges the prominence of a user as part of the considerations for verifying accounts. Although the decision of verifying is not vested entirely in the number of followers, Twitter states that followers or mention count is one of the factors for verification.
Notability, evidence could be measured through the mention rate or following in the user’s geographic area.
Twitter has a mechanism for the purpose of evaluating the authenticity of an account’s engagement activity.
In addition, news coverage could also be used as a parameter to measure notability. A user is required to provide articles about the organization or individual in question, albeit from a verified news outlet.
Further, Twitter gives room for account holders with Wikipedia articles that describe them or their organizations. Search history from google could also come in handy in the application of verification.
Rules
Further, it is noteworthy that Twitter is strict on some rules while considering applications for verification. An eligible account for verification should have a profile name and a profile photo.
An eligible account must also have been active for at least six months and public.
A user seeking to have an account verified should also ensure that the account has an email or phone number linked to it for security measures.
However, the social networking site is also keen on violators of Twitter rules. This includes the condition that the account in question should not have a history of suspension for at least 12 past months.
It is also worth noting that Twitter sidelines parody accounts, fictional characters, and unofficial fan accounts from verification.
