Twitter account verification goes public; Anyone can now have Twitter account verified

People will now have an easier time identifying authentic accounts in Twitter as the social media app is now allowing anyone to have their accounts verified starting Tuesday.

Twitter has announced in a press release that they have created an online application process for users to have their Twitter accounts verified. Accounts that are verified to be authentic will have a blue badge icon next to their Twitter handle.

Before, Twitter accounts can only be verified if it is determined to be of public interest. These usually include accounts owned by public figures and organisations in music, TV, film, fashion, government, politics, religion, journalism, media, sports, business and other key interest areas.

Twitter’s vice president of User Service Tina Bhatnagar said that they are allowing anyone to be verified because they want their users to have an easy time finding “creators and influencers on Twitter. “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.”

Twitter said in an article that before being verified, users should have a verified phone number, confirmed email address, tweets set as public in tweet privacy settings, a bio, and much more. Twitter will also be asking users on why they should be verified. The company said it wants to understand the impact of the person in their field.

Twitter, which was the first platform to introduce account verification in 2009, currently has close to 187,000 verified accounts, and @CDCgov was one of the first Twitter accounts to be verified.

Techcrunch reports that this is not the first time Twitter has made verification available to the public. The company offered verification to everyone before but pulled it out years ago, probably due to flooding of unworthy applications.

Users can learn more about the requirements for verification here, or request to have their accounts verified here.