You have probably seen that check mark next to a good number of Twitter accounts lately and there is a very good reason for this to be implemented. Basically, the verification icon allows people to know which Twitter accounts are held legitimately by the people they claim to be representing.

The main reason why these verifications started to take place was the fact that a large number of people started to pose as celebrities and political figures and they would use their fake profile pages to try to sell items or to say things that would make the real celebrities look bad. This forced popular social media pages like Twitter to look for a way to verify public figures in order for the general public to know if the profiles really belonged to any specific person they follow.

The verification process used to be available only for celebrity Twitter users that would clearly show a large audience was following them, but the average Twitter user was unable to gain access to it. It made sense at first as it would be pointless to allow just about everyone to verify their accounts, but now the verification process has been made available to anyone who meets certain requirements and is seen as important enough by the platform. This means that you don’t need to be a celebrity, but you should carry a certain amount of active followers and your Twitter account must meet certain requirements.

So far Twitter has mentioned that out of more than 310,000,000 users, there are only around 188,000 verified accounts, but now that the system has gone public for anyone to apply, the numbers will probably rise. The main purpose of the process is for people not to be cheated by impostors and for the audience to be able to find quality and legitimate accounts to follow.

All you need to do in order to get verified is visit the following Twitter link to request your verification:

http://verification.twitter.com/welcome

Once you get there, just follow the instructions and you will be given instructions on all the steps needed in order for your account to be submitted for verification approval. You will also be asked why you should be verified, so try to be as specific about that as you can.

It should take no more than a few days for you to get a response from them and if your request is denied, you can send it again in 30 days.

Sharon Callix

Award Winning Social Media Expert

International Speaker

Twitter: SC707Tweets