Twitter announced some new features for verified users, making verified status all the more sought after by those who haven’t been graced with the illustrious blue circle with a checkmark in it.

Verified users are getting alerts when other verified users follow them from Twitter’s Android and iOS apps, and the option to view their verified followers from their own profile. That second feature is on iOS only for the time being.

“Similar to how we help businesses make advertising simple and effective on Twitter, we occasionally build features that enable these public figures — verified users — to engage more easily with the world through Twitter,” says Twitter product manager Jinen Kamdar.

“We hope these two features will help verified users easily connect with each other so we can continue to deliver those only-on-Twitter conversations to users,” he says.

The feature is likely a direct response to Facebook’s recent launch of Mentions, an app specifically for for celebrities and other “public figures”. At least one celebrity isn’t a fan of that, mostly because it’s a separate app. Twitter is smart to just boost its functionality from within the Twitter apps people already use.

If you don’t have a verified account on Twitter, and feel like you deserve one, good luck. Even though the feature launched like five years ago, Twitter still isn’t even letting people submit their accounts for consideration. You basically just have to wait for Twitter to give you one on its own.

Twitter says on an FAQ page, “If you think you meet the criteria for verification and have not yet received a badge, please be patient. We are working within key interest areas to verify accounts that are sought after by other Twitter users. We don’t accept verification requests from the general public, but we encourage you to continue using Twitter in a meaningful way, and you may be verified in the future. Please note that follower count is not a factor in determining whether an account meets our criteria for verification.”

The official (and verified) “Verified Accounts” Twitter account hasn’t even tweeted or responded to a tweet for two years.

Image via Twitter