The blue-check wave is coming.
Twitter officially launched a new public-facing application for account verification Thursday. It’s not clear who will get to apply on day one, but Twitter says it will roll out globally over the next few weeks.
Who does, and does not, get verified on Twitter has been the source of frequent debate over the years. The social media giant explained in a Wednesday phone call with reporters that it hopes this new process will be a transparent one.
B Byrne, a Twitter product manager who focuses on identity, explained the company’s two main goals when it came to designing the new verification application.
“One, we want to help notable people submit successful applications to be verified,” said Byrne. “We want this to be really consistent, and want to make it easy for folks. The second goal is to help everyone else who applies learn our notability criteria, and hopefully understand why they’re not eligible.”
In terms of eligibility, Twitter published its updated requirements late last year. Broadly speaking, to be verified, the company says an account must be authentic, notable, and active (with detailed breakdowns for what each of those mean on its requirements page).
That’s where the application should live.
Image: Twitter
“With today’s application launch, we’re also introducing new guidelines for verified accounts on Twitter,” the company explained in a press release accompanying Thursday’s news. “These verification guidelines are intended to encourage healthy conversations for the betterment of the Twitter community overall. They follow the philosophy to lead by example, Tweet others how they want to be Tweeted, and serve the public conversation authentically, respectfully, and with consideration.”
To request verification, users will need to go to their Account tab, and select “Request verification.” Then, they will be prompted to provide information about themselves and their accounts.
Twitter says this will not be a completely automated process. Instead, applications will be reviewed by a team of humans dedicated to account verification. When asked, Bryne was unable to say exactly how large that team is.
Regardless of size, one imagines that as soon as the verification application is made broadly available, the request floodgates will open. As such, Twitter says it may take anywhere from one to four weeks to respond to applications.
SEE ALSO: Twitter to ‘automatically’ de-verify users as it opens verifications back up
If an application is approved, the account owner will receive an email alerting them to that fact, as well as the desired blue check. If an application is denied, the account owner will just receive the rejection email. Importantly, there is no limit as to how many times a person can apply — but account owners must wait at least 30 days to reapply.
With the official (but not really) verification “pause” now over, expect to see scores of newly verified accounts — along with corresponding controversy surrounding who or what gets verified and who does not — all over your timeline. Because even if the Twitter verification process has changed, the drama surrounding it isn’t going anywhere.