How to get verified on twitter and instagram


How to Get Verified on Twitter or Instagram

A verified badge on Instagram and Twitter signals that you are an authority in your field. The iconic blue checkmark is a symbol that anyone will recognize - earning you immediate trust in whatever you’re posting. Here is how to get verified on Twitter or Instagram.

As a verified user on Instagram and Twitter, you have the ability to reach more people with your message. When people see that your account is verified, they know it’s the real deal - giving you an edge over your competition.

But how do you get one? In the early days of verification, you would have to wait until someone at Instagram or Twitter noticed your page and deemed you worthy of a verified badge. Now, you can bypass the waiting by filling out a request form. But you’re still at their mercy to receive a verified check. 

This article will cover what exactly a verified badge means for your social account, how to get one, and what to do if you’re not quite famous enough.  

Sections

  • What is social media verification? 
  • Are you ready to apply for verification? 
  • Process: Here’s exactly what you can do to get verified
  • Not quite famous enough? 

What is social media verification? 

Instagram and Twitter verification can be a powerful tool for businesses and professionals of all kinds, from doctors to CEOs to marketers and public relations professionals. By verifying your account, you can build trust with potential customers or followers, and show that you are an expert in your field.

In order to get verified, your account must be notable, authentic, and active.

  • Notable accounts belong to a well-known business, celebrity, or public figure. 
  • Authentic accounts are the real deal – not fake or copycat accounts.
  • Active accounts are complete, post regularly, and follow all rules and guidelines.  

Are you ready to apply for verification? 

If you're a business and you want to be verified on Instagram or Twitter, you have to go through a verification process. And it's not as easy as just clicking a button. Twitter and Instagram both require evidence that your account is notable and authentic in order to apply for verified status. 

Twitter outlines their verification requirement here. There are slightly different requirements for different industries and types of accounts. For the purposes of this blog, we will focus on requirements for companies, brands, and organizations.

Here are some of the requirements for verification. If you can’t provide all of the below items, please skip to the section on what to do if you’re not quite famous enough. 

Your account must be active: 

  • It must have a profile name and a profile image
  • It must be public at the time of application
  • You must have logged into that account in the last six months
  • Your account must have a confirmed email address or phone number
  • Your account must not have had a 12-hour or 7-day lockout for violating the Twitter Rules in the past 12 months (excluding successful appeals)

Requirements for companies, brands, and organizations:

  • Your account must link to your official company website in your profile.
  • You must be able to prove your notability with either a link to either your company’s search activity on Google Trends, your company Wikipedia page, or a link to a website that demonstrates your organization’s presence in a public stock exchange.
  • You must have links to 3 or more news articles about your organization published by an already Verified news organization within the 6 months prior to applying.
  • You must demonstrate your account has a follower count in the top .05% of active accounts located in the same geographic region.

Requirements for leaders and executives: 

  • A link to your organization website that references you and your Twitter account
  • A link to a stable Wikipedia article about you that meet the encyclopedia’s notability standards
  • Links to 3 or more news articles referencing you in a leadership position published by a Verified news organization within the 6 months prior to applying
  • A photo of your valid government-issued ID

Process: Here’s exactly what you can do to get verified

How to get verified on Twitter

Step 1: On the web, navigate to Settings and privacy > Your account > Account information. Once you enter your password, go to Request Verification. On Android and iOS, tap on Settings and Privacy > Account > Verification request.

Step 2: Select a category that best describes your account. For the purposes of this blog, we’ll continue as if you are verifying a company, brand, or organization.

Step 3: Select an account type. 

Step 4: Select a notability method. Here’s where you must prove your notability. Twitter requires a link to either your company’s search activity on Google Trends, your company Wikipedia page, or a link to a website that demonstrates your organization’s presence in a public stock exchange.

Step 5: Add verified news references. 

Step 6: Select authenticity method. 

How to get verified on Instagram 

Step 1: In the app, navigate to Settings > Account > Request verification

Step 2: Complete the application form. 

Not quite famous enough? 

Even if you’re not quite famous enough to apply for verification right now, you can still lay down the groundwork for future verification.  

Twitter and Instagram have become mandatory platforms for users, brands and companies to stay connected with the masses. They are also a popular platform for celebrities, musicians and other notable figures to spread messages and interact with their target audience.

So it’s in your best interest to strengthen your profiles as much as possible – with or without the prestige of a verification badge. Follow these steps to strengthen your social media profiles and improve your notability online. Then, once you feel you have met the necessary requirements, apply for verification. 

Sell yourself in your bio

Your bio is your first chance to sell yourself to anyone who reads your profile. Take this opportunity to state exactly what you do – and don’t sell yourself short! Your bio should be:  

  • Personal: The best bios paint a picture of the person you are. Use your bio to tell people what you love and what makes you different from other people with similar titles.
  • Clear: The more straightforward your bio, the easier it is for someone to decide whether or not they want to follow you.
  • Concise: Currently Twitter allows for only 160 characters for a bio, so use every character to your advantage.
  • Consistent: Have a strong and consistent presence across social media platforms so people know who they’re connecting with whether they’re on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn.

Your bio is also the perfect place to link to verified Twitter accounts. If you are connected to a verified account, link to it in your bio. For example, if you have any published articles on a verified account, add a simple line like “published in @verified company name” to your bio.

Post regularly and engage with your audience

How often do you tweet? It is widely recommended to Tweet at least 3 times a day, although you know your audience best and can fine-tune your frequency as you go. This is your chance to really showcase your brand voice and give people a reason to follow you. 

Make sure that you respond to comments, mentions, and direct messages. It's always a good idea to defer to your spokesperson when they're available to handle media inquiries, but you should be able to take care of basic requests when they come up. 

For an easy way to grow your audience faster, offer readers incentives to follow you on social media (such as behind-the-scenes content). 

Improve your online notability

Once you have a good handle on your social media presence, it’s time to work on establishing yourself in other places online. Now it’s time to use every tool at your disposal to give potential clients, customers, and the powers behind social media a way to get to know you, learn about your services, and find out more about what you do.

Note: Please do not try to create your own Wikipedia page. Read all of the reasons why this is not a good idea and what you can do instead here.

Here are some of the things you should do when you want to be the most visible version of yourself online:

  • Improve your website: A basic website will help put you on the map, but it’s not enough - make sure it includes information about the kind of work that you do, any relevant skills or experience, and contact details like a phone number, email address, and physical address. That way, people who are interested in working with you can reach out easily.
  • Strengthen your notability online: Make regular contributions to your industry, via guest posts, press mentions, or other profile sites. 
  • Regularly participate in corporate social responsibility

Study recently verified accounts

Get a pulse on what other accounts that have already been verified are doing right. The Twitter Verified account follows all verified accounts, so you can see what those accounts are doing right to get verified status. The account currently follows over 400,000 verified accounts. 

Why get verified? 

Getting verified on Twitter and Instagram has many benefits, including: 

  • Improved search recommendations
  • Instant brand credibility
  • Differentiation from scammers and copycat accounts
  • Early access to new features

A verified badge on Instagram and Twitter is a status symbol on social media. It signals that you are an authority in your field and earns immediate trust. However, it is not the only way to prove your authority. If you aren’t yet notable enough to get a verified badge, work to improve your notability online using the methods outlined in this blog. Need help getting started? Contact us today. 

How to Get Verified on Twitter: A Complete Step-By-Step Guide

Bots. Trolls. Fake accounts. While social media platforms are working to combat these fake users through algorithm changes and bots of their own, they can't eradicate these fakes completely. We’ve seen a delivery guy impersonate Trump family members to spread conspiracy theories, Amazon defenders that were actually bots, and news outlet impersonators spreading fake news about the 2020 U.S. elections.

So instead of eradicating all the fakes, Twitter recently announced that they were bringing back the account verification program.

You can now apply to be Twitter verified and receive a blue checkmark next to your name that tells users that your account isn't a spammer, troll, or bot—it's the real deal. To become verified on Twitter, you need to confirm your identity, have a notable presence on and off Twitter, have an active Twitter account, and send in a request for consideration as a verified user.

It is especially important for micro-influencers, thought leaders, and small businesses to apply for verification and get that blue badge so that fake accounts cannot impersonate them. Having a verified Twitter profile makes it harder for scammers to use your name to spread misinformation, hold fake contests to steal your followers’ information, and more—that eventually leads to mistrust.

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How to get verified on Twitter: A step-by-step guide

[source] This is the verification request form.

Here’s what you need to do to get verified on Twitter:

  1. Make sure your profile meets Twitter’s activity standards.
  2. Go into your account settings and start the verification process by clicking “request verification.”
  3. A popup will appear telling you more about Twitter verification—click “Start Now.”
  4. Tell Twitter who you are by selecting the right category.
  5. Provide proof that you've selected the right category (e.g., your official website, articles about you, etc.).
  6. Verify your identity by providing an official email address, website, or government-issued ID.
  7. Click “submit” and wait for Twitter to get back to you.

Note: The “verified” link should appear as the fourth entry in your account information settings. If you see it but cannot click it, your account does not meet Twitter’s eligibility criteria.

3 account requirements defined by Twitter

With the release of Twitter’s most recent verification guidelines, getting verified on Twitter is clearer than ever. Your account needs to have three characteristics—active, notable, and authentic—to even be considered as a candidate for verification.

1. Your Twitter account needs to be active

An active Twitter account has a profile name and profile image, has been logged into at least once in the last six months, and has a confirmed email address or phone number attached to it. You also need to make sure that you haven't violated any Twitter rules in the past six months that could have warranted a 12-hour or seven-day lockout.

Nathan Kontny and Ronald Barba are both thought leaders who have authentic, active Twitter profiles.

Twitter also recommends that you set your profile name as your real name or brand name, that your profile photo and cover photo accurately represent what you’re about, and that your bio mentions an area of expertise or company mission—really sell yourself.

If you want to make sure that your account activity meets Twitter’s standards, we recommend building a regular posting schedule a few weeks to a month before you turn in your verification request. Here are two easy steps:

  1. Hop on to Buffer and fill up your content calendar with tweets for the next 30 days.
  2. Be sure to engage with your followers in mentions and direct messages (easily done with Buffer Engage).

When you're sure that your account is active, you can proceed to send your Twitter account in for verification.

2. Your Twitter account needs to be notable

Your account needs to be affiliated with an influential or prominent brand or personality. Notability is important during the verification process, as the first thing you’ll need to do is “Tell us who you are. ” Here are the six notability categories from Twitter:

1. The Government category is for state- and federal-level government officials, public offices, official candidates, public utilities, and other people in leadership.

2. The companies, brands, and organizations category is for prominent companies, brands, and organizations—such as non-profit organizations, startups, and small businesses—and the leaders of those entities.

3. News organizations and journalists is for official news organizations, including magazines, newspapers, broadcast and cable TV, as well as individual journalists.

4. Entertainment is for organizations in the entertainment industry—music production companies, film festivals, TV networks, etc.

5. Sports and gaming is for official sports leagues, esports leagues, sports teams, and other sports organizations.

6. Activists, organizers, and other influential individuals is for individuals of high public interest who fall outside of the professional categories above—medical professionals, local public figures and political leaders, etc. —but are still prone to getting impersonated.

To qualify for your category, you’ll need to provide proof that you do, indeed, belong to that category. For example, if you want to get your account verified as a journalist, you need to provide links to three bylines or credits in qualified publications.

Read more about each category and the requirements here.

3. Your Twitter account needs to be authentic

Your account needs to be authentic, meaning you need to be who you say you are. There are three ways you can verify your identity to Twitter:

  1. Provide a link to your website (the website needs to have a clear link to your account).
  2. Provide a photo of an official government-issued ID.
  3. Provide an official email address with a relevant domain.

You need to upload your proof of identity while filling out your verification form, so have the information on hand before you hit “Start Now.”

Why it’s important to be Twitter verified

There are a lot of obvious benefits to having a verified account:

  1. You might get more followers.
  2. You gain trust and respect from the community.
  3. You are immediately recognized as an influencer or authority.
  4. You can defend yourself against impersonation attempts.

It’s the last two points that might be the most important.

That blue verified badge on your profile means that you will always have a closer connection to other verified users. Your likes, replies, and retweets of other verified users can never be hidden. You're also protecting yourself from impersonators who want to use your influence to forward their own agendas—whether it's to spread fake news and conspiracy theories, spam your followers, or steal your followers' personal information.

Moving forward, Twitter is planning to expand categories to include other influential persons such as scientists, academics, and more. They are also planning to add more functionality to profiles by creating different types of accounts (e.g., automated accounts, memorialized accounts) and adding an “about” page.

Being verified ensures that your content and your interactions always remain visible for the maximum number of Twitter users possible.

Get verified to show your followers that you're the real you

The Twitter verified symbol shows your followers that they aren't accidentally following a fake account. But in addition, it's the only way Twitter users can definitively say that an account is authentic. It adds an extra layer of protection for both users and account owners, stems the spread of fake news, and, on the whole, improves the user experience.

If your verification request is denied the first time, you can definitely put in another request after 30 days. There is no limit to how many times you can request verification.

Follow @Verified on Twitter for the latest Twitter verification updates and guidelines. And after you're verified and ready to grow your Twitter account, head on to Buffer and try out our content scheduling app that makes it easier to plan your tweets ahead of time, engage with your followers, and analyze results.

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How to get verified on Twitter (or at least try)

Oh, that sweet blue tick. It is awarded only to selected elected representatives of Twitter - Justin Pot has one . The rest of us, the digital plebeians, were left without help, forever untested. Or are we?

A while back, Twitter introduced a way for anyone - even a writer who can't write like me - to apply for review. Let's see how to do it.

Get your account in order

Before submitting an application for verification, you need to put your account in order. This means you will need a few things:

  • Verified phone number.
  • Verified email address.
  • Completed biography.
  • Avatar.
  • Header photo.
  • Birthday (if you are not a company).
  • Website.
  • Your tweets will become public .

Your account should already have most of these if you use it regularly, but if not, go to your profile and click Edit Profile.

Fill in all the missing information and click Save Changes.

The only thing you won't be able to fill in is your email address and phone number. To provide an email address, go to Settings > Account and make sure you've added an accurate email address. For your phone number, select Settings > Mobile. None of the communication methods will be publicly shown.

Twitter will only review an account that is "of public interest." According to Twitter , this "includes user accounts in music, acting, fashion, government, politics, religion, journalism, media, sports, business, and other key areas of interest. " Both personal accounts and business or brand accounts can be verified. If your account does not fall into one of these categories, you will have to fake it or just hope that someone will consider your application leniently.

Apply for verification

Now that your account is in order, it's time to apply for verification. Head to verification.twitter.com/wellcome and click Continue.

If you are not already signed in, you will be prompted to sign in to your Twitter account. Make sure you are applying to verify correctness and click Next.

You must provide Twitter with proof that your account is blue-tick-worthy. This means giving them:

  • Links to two to five websites that identify the account you want to verify. I'm going to use my personal website, the How-To Geek author page, and a few others.
  • A 500-character statement explaining why your account needs to be verified.
  • Some kind of photo ID.

Twitter takes verification seriously.

Complete the request form to the best of your ability, and when you're done, click Next.

Review your review and when you're sure it's correct, click Submit.

And it's all. You have applied for verification. You will receive an email response from Twitter within a few days. If your account is down, you can wait 30 days and try again. In our experience, the Twitter verification process is... well, a bit silly. Some of us How-To Geek writers passed the test and others didn't, apparently for no reason. So give it a try, but don't expect miracles - Twitter seems to keep its head up a bit when it comes to verification.

Twitter returns the verification program. How to get a blue tick • AIN.UA

May 21, 2021, 13:01

1833

Twitter is relaunching its public verification program for the first time since 2017, which allows anyone to get the coveted blue verified account checkmark.

According to The Verge, to be ticked, an account must meet Twitter's updated criteria, which include: public interest in the account, a verified email address or phone number, a profile picture, and a display name.


Account requirements to apply for verification

Twitter notes that there are only six categories of accounts that qualify for the blue check:

  • Government representatives;
  • Companies, brands and organizations;
  • News organizations and journalists;
  • Entertainment accounts;
  • Sports and gaming accounts:
  • Activists and other influencers.

In addition, the account must be completed. It must have a verified email address or phone number, profile picture, display name.

At the same time, Twitter will conduct both automated verification and human verification, but if you do not meet the above criteria for a "manual" verification, you most likely will not even get it.

How to apply for verification in 2021

You can apply for verification in the Account Settings tab of the Twitter mobile app. To do this, you need:

  • Open the panel « Settings and privacy ";
  • In it, select the sub-item " Account ";
  • In " Account " find the sentence " Account Verification Request ".

If your account has been approved after verification, a blue checkmark icon will automatically appear on your profile.

What to do if your verification was denied

If Twitter does not approve your application, but you still believe you are eligible for a blue check, you can reapply within 30 days of the company's decision.

If the account is registered correctly, and you were not given account confirmation due to the decision of a company employee in the “manual” mode, this can help, because most likely another person will make a second decision.


Learn more