A week ago, Twitter announced that it will start verifying accounts of Twitter users to prevent further impersonification of famous people. This decision was Twitter’s way of preventing another lawsuit after St Louis Cardinal Manager Tony La Russa complained that a Twitter account was created using his name. Although Twitter did not pay settlement, the account was immediately deleted after it was reported to the Twitter team.
To prevent another incident of impersonation, Twitter announced that it will start verifying accounts of famous people, celebrities and other public personalities who have Twitter account. After verifying that these accounts really belong to the real people, Twitter would append a Verified Account Badge on these Twitter profiles.
Twitter was also quick to clarify that accounts without the Verified Accounts badges should be considered fake. Of course majority of these “unverified” accounts are still legit. It’s just that Twitter has no way of verifying them. The Verified Account Badge is being issued only to famous Twitter users whom the Twitter crew have contacted.
A good question to ask now is what will happen to “not so famous” Twitter users whose identity is being jeopardized? If you’re among these Twitter users you can either submit a feedback form and wait if Twitter acts on it or provide a link to your official website containing the Twitter badge or logo linking back to your profile.
Mashable has just noticed that Twitter Verified Accounts have been rolled out. Some famous personalities in Twitter now have the Verified Accounts in their profiles. Mashable’s Twitter Profile is now a Verified Account, as well as those of Ashton Kutcher and Oprah.
So have your Twitter account been verified?
