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Twitter opens account verification to masses
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Twitter is a microblogging service used by people across the world. (Shutterstock/GongTo)
T
witter is making its blue checkmark available to anyone who wants a verified account on its website, simply by filling out a form with personal information like phone number and email address.
“We want to make it even easier for people to find creators and influencers on Twitter so it makes sense for us to let people apply for verification,” Tina Bhatnagar, the company’s vice president of user services, said in a statement.
Originally, Twitter tended to only verify public figures, brands and people in the media. The company says it has about 187,000 verified accounts but at least 310 million monthly active users.
(Read also: Twitter's new app allows celebrities to engage better with fans)
“We realize we still have a lot of work in front of us before Twitter is where it should be on how we handle these issues,” a Twitter spokesperson told BuzzFeed in response to the case of comedian and Ghostbusters star Leslie Jones, who suffered an extreme amount of racist remarks and hate speech from anonymous users on Tuesday.
It is unclear whether Twitter plans to verify everyday people, but if a great number of users do opt for verification it could mean the end of the egg avatar or at least reduce the visibility of anonymous users. (tif/kes)
