Twitter Finally Launches Verified Accounts

Mere moments ago Twitter launched the first leg of its "Verified Accounts" program.

Now celebrities such as Oprah and ~~PuffDaddy~~ ~~P Diddy~~ Diddy (among others) carry the following Verified Account badge.

What does this mean for everyday Twitter users? The Twitter verified accounts help page says the following…

With this feature, you can easily see which accounts we know are ‘real’ and authentic. That means we’ve been in contact with the person or entity the account is representing and verified that it is approved. (This does not mean we have verified who, exactly, is writing the tweets.)

This also does not mean that accounts without the ‘Verified Account’ badge are fake. The vast majority of accounts on the system are not impersonators, and we don’t have the ability to check 100% of them.

Currently the badge can only be found on a handful of high-profile accounts (celebrities, athletes, musicians, etc.) But, you can expect more to be added as celebrities and other public figures want to prove their legitimacy to followers.

It should be noted that Twitter isn’t testing this feature with businesses yet, but I’d say you could expect this feature fairly soon.

Are you glad Twitter added this feature? Tell us.

There are 21 Comments. Add Yours.

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OAuth
June 12, 2009 at 12:48 am

How is Twitter going to deem who is a celebrity?

Sounds like a lot of bruised egos are going to happen.

- Like (0) Dislike (0)
  Jeremy Muncy
  June 12, 2009 at 8:51 am
  
  This is exactly what I was thinking.
  
  Someone who has celebrity status here in Kentucky (John Calipari, who has 175,495 followers) … would he be considered a celebrity in California? Probably not.
  
  –
  Jeremy Muncy
  
  - Like (0) Dislike (0)
    MHarr
    June 12, 2009 at 11:15 am
    
    John Calipari a celebrity in California? Considering his Memphis Tigers knocked UCLA out of the NCAA tournament a couple months ago, he may not be a “celebrity”, but likely a “villian”.
    
    - Like (0) Dislike (0)
      Jeremy Muncy
      June 12, 2009 at 1:57 pm
      
      HaHa.
      
      Forgot that Memphis bumped UCLA out that year. Hopefully he’ll get a chance to do the same now that he’s at UK
      
      –
      Jeremy Muncy
      
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Adam
June 12, 2009 at 5:42 am

I think it makes a lot of sense.

It should be like getting your PayPal account verified – such as inputting some sort of data to verify. It’s just a means of knowing for absolute sure you’re dealing with a quality user.

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Toni Anicic
June 12, 2009 at 8:37 am

There’s an article at TecCrunch about this saying that they don’t really verify verified accounts (LoL). Michal Arrington’s account has got that Verified Account sign and they didn’t ask him to verify his account.

- Like (0) Dislike (0)
  Jeremy Muncy
  June 12, 2009 at 8:47 am
  
  That’s pretty interesting.
  
  Twitter probably has a handful of users who they know is legit without asking… just my opinion of course
  
  –
  Jeremy Muncy
  
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Christopher
June 12, 2009 at 12:37 pm

Cool , I want to do it!

Nice post, thanks for letting me know

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agency collection
June 12, 2009 at 12:58 pm

Great idea but I would assume that this would be a hackers dream. Simply find a way to become verified and people will have their gaurds down and will be easier to take advantage of.

- Like (0) Dislike (0)
  Jeremy Muncy
  June 12, 2009 at 2:08 pm
  
  Now that you’ve planted the seed… I’m sure some hacker is working on this in their parents basement.
  
  Not sure if it’ll ever happen… but only time will tell.
  
  –
  Jeremy Muncy
  Follow me on Twitter twitter.com/jmuncy”>@jmuncy
  
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David
June 12, 2009 at 1:55 pm

It’s a great idea but I do see a lot of problems in the execution. First and foremost, who is a celebrity? And another thing, how is Twitter going to verify I am who I say that I am, since it is real easy to photoshop a name onto a scanned document.

- Like (0) Dislike (0)
  Jeremy Muncy
  June 12, 2009 at 2:10 pm
  
  I was thinking along these same lines…
  
  There could be a few bruised egos if Twitter don’t verify certain people.
  
  –
  Jeremy Muncy
  Follow me on Twitter twitter.com/jmuncy”>@jmuncy
  
  - Like (0) Dislike (0)
    Jeremy Muncy
    June 12, 2009 at 2:13 pm
    
    Perez Hilton has a verified Twitter account. Why?
    http://twitter.com/perezhilton
    
    I know his site is popular… but is he considered a “celebrity”? Or are Twitter users concerned they’re not following the real Perez?
    
    Probably not.
    
    –
    Jeremy Muncy
    Follow me on Twitter @jmuncy
    
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Edward Han
June 14, 2009 at 7:45 am

This will be great feature. It should not limit to celebrity.

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Guest
June 15, 2009 at 2:44 am

That is goooood news, i like it. I hope be great feature

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Hicham Maged
June 17, 2009 at 8:11 am

Interesting especially for companies to keep aware that who claim is ‘whatever company’ but I wonder whether normal users obliged to verify their accounts or not. That’s another question

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Replica Designer Handbags
July 7, 2009 at 1:28 am

that’s very good,i agree it.
Although we are talking in the internet ,i think most people want to make the genuine friend here.

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Los Angeles Locksmith
August 18, 2009 at 6:03 pm

Right approach on time.

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Second Chance Checking
November 2, 2009 at 12:19 am

Lol that is kind of funny they have to verify celebrity accounts

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image recovery
November 3, 2009 at 1:06 am

This is really a good Information as we can differ between the two when following a person which one is original and which one is fraud. Thanks Twitter for such a nice facility.

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Calgary Web Design
September 6, 2010 at 10:16 am

Sounds quite a bit like how Google Maps/Places verifies business’ – if its not your business, makes sense that you can’t edit the listing.

Agreed with OAuth though, how would Twitter deem who is who in terms of celebrity status afterall?