Getting Verified on Twitter
Getting verified on Twitter was never easy. It's been a few months since Twitter allowed all of it's users to become verified on Twitter. Prior to this time users were verified typically included: Accounts maintained by users in government, politics, religion, journalism, media, sports, business, and other key interest areas. If it was a personal account vs. a brand that person had to be in media, and/or work at a major company with a title etc.
Getting verified on your Twitter account means you get a check mark next to your Twitter handle. It makes you look more official. It gives you or your brand the appearance of social influence. Getting verified is also a sign of social proof to your Twitter followers.
As Twitter claims "The blue verified badge 
on Twitter lets people know that an account of public interest is authentic."
Getting Verified on Twitter is Not Easy Though
Try as I might I'm never going to manage to get @verified 🙁 sadface. pic.twitter.com/0dHd49VPed
- John Gooderson (@dronee_) November 3, 2016
My quest to become Twitter verified has failed again. Time for a better profile pic.
- Raymond Camden (@raymondcamden) November 4, 2016
Got me one of the blue ticks! 😎 just Spotify to get for the full set. 😜 #verified #djlife #Twitter pic.twitter.com/VFDnc1rkLf
- Freejak (@DJFreejak) November 4, 2016
Big thank you to @twitter. Woke up this morning to find that I've been @verified and I'm very thankful for it. pic.twitter.com/2ZW631OsFC
- P Scott Patterson (@OriginalPSP) November 4, 2016
One of the first people I thought of that would be verified was Kim Garst. But even she was denied at first by Twitter. She has over 400,000 followers. She also has a 88 Klout score. The other person I surely thought would be verified was Sam Hurley. He is ranked #1 in most influencial digital marketing person in the world. (The webinale influencer list was generated by analyzing thousands of Twitter accounts extracting the MozRank and Klout scores which rank both quality and influence. ) Sam admitted in a wonderful post on LinkedIn on why he is taming the beast. He wrote that he tried 3 TIMES to be verified and was denied each time by Twitter.
Now if you know @Sam___Hurley on Twitter is he surely authentic! Click To Tweet
That really me wonder, what gets one verified? And who does the verifying? Is it a computer or a human at Twitter?
@Lisapatb Lisa! Will try again in 2 weeks. Not too fussed now, lost my faith in Twitter a little. Lots of exciting plans!! How about you? 🙂
- Sam Hurley 😎💻😎 (@Sam___Hurley) November 13, 2016
I had to try becoming verified just for the sake of testing it out. I was denied too the first time I tried within 24 hours. It got me thinking: Is it about brands? Is it about what you have written? Is it your job title? And who decides which account is of public interest? I don't believe it's the number of followers. I found some verified Twitter users with just 2,000+ followers.
What is the secret sauce to become verified on Twitter? As of the third quarter of 2016, the microblogging service averaged at 317 million monthly active users. It appears 229,000 are now verified. That is less than 1% of all Twitter users. ( You can find the verified users here. You will notice lots of journalists, politicians, sports stars and entertainers.)
There were some Twitter profiles that did not explain what the users did. These profiles just had a quote - those were the Twitter verified accounts that I found the most perplexing as to why they were verified.
Twitter Tips For You Getting Verified
The most basic but important one-pager that every verified Twitter user should read: Keeping Your Account Secure https://t.co/uvOq8TuF
- Twitter Verified (@verified) August 29, 2012
Be sure to fill out all of your information in your Twitter profile settings and don't forget the settings section with your phone number. Twitter wants to know that you are real. I would also set your password reset, by using the checkmark on that one. Another tip to being real is adding your birth date but remember you don't have to make it public.
If you don't get verified the first time, you can always try again in 30 days. So don't give up if at first you don't succeed. Do remember only less than 1% of Twitter users have been verified.
More About Getting Verified On Twitter
