Twitter Updates Its Public Verification Process, Which Will Take Effect Jan. 20

Being able to apply for verification is becoming closer and closer to a reality at Twitter. The social network said in November that it would bring back a public application process for verification early next year, sharing a draft of the policies it plans to implement and seeking input from users on those policies. Some of that input from users was factored into Twitter’s revised verification policy, which will go into effect Jan. 20, 2021. Changes implemented based on user feedback included: Profiles no longer require profile biographies or header images to be considered complete.Twitter updated its references to Wikipedia in order to better align with its published standards for notability and article quality.The News category was renamed News and Journalists, and the Sports category was renamed Sports and Esports in order to be more inclusive. In addition, a reference was added to the Entertainment category to make it clearer that digital content creators were included.The social network adjusted its minimum follower count requirement from a per-country basis to a per-region basis in order to make that requirement less susceptible to spam and more equitable across geographies.Twitter said it will explore adding categories including academics, religious leaders and scientists early next year, nothing that individuals fitting those descriptions may qualify under the existing Activists, Organizers and Other Influential Individuals category. Also beginning Jan. 20, the social network will automatically remove verified badges from inactive and incomplete accounts, saying that complete accounts must include either a verified email address or phone number, a profile image and a display name. Holders of accounts that are at risk of losing their badges will receive automated emails and in-application notifications alerting them to the changes that are needed to keep their verified status. Twitter said it will not remove verified badges from inactive accounts of people who are no longer alive. The social network added that accounts found to be in severe or repeated violations of the Twitter Rules face verification removal. Twitter halted its verification application process in March 2018, with CEO Jack Dorsey saying during a livestream at the time, “We believe verification is something that is very broken on this platform and something that we need to fix and that we need a much more cohesive view on.” Product lead Kayvon Beykpour said in a series of tweets in July 2018 that verification was being put on the back burner as Twitter focused its energy on protecting the integrity of the midterm elections in the U.S. that November. Twitter did not halt verification entirely, but there has been no formal process. The social network has verified accounts belonging to celebrities, members of the media and organizations, but it has not been accepting applications. The social network also detailed other types of accounts it plans to develop next year in order to make it easier for people to understand who they are interacting with. Twitter plans a new account type to distinguish automated accounts from human-run accounts, saying in a blog post, “Accounts that post to Twitter automatically, also called bots, can bring a lot of value to the service when they share things like earthquake reports or self-care reminders. But it can be confusing to people if it’s not clear that these accounts are automated.”: The social network is also working on memorialized accounts for users who have died, in order to help preserve their memories. Twitter wrote, “Our work here is far from finished, but we want to give you a look ahead at what we’re doing in this space so you can understand our approach. We are excited to relaunch verification and start rolling out these new account types, and we’ll share more soon.”