How to verify your Twitter account

…make your existence official by applying for a verified Twitter account

You can now apply to get that little blue tick by your name on Twitter.

Up until recently it was mainly celebrities which had little blue ticks on their Twitter account. The blue tick indicates that the accounts are verified, meaning that @oyiboediri is actually the Oyibo Ediri from Nigeria you know in real life and not some bloke from Afghanistan using the name and pretending to be him.

There was nothing you could do if your account wasn’t verified; Twitter decided which accounts it would check out and approve, but now there is a process where you can apply to prove you are who you claim to be.

Here is how to get your Twitter account verified.

The only way to get a verified account is to request one from Twitter. This is not quite as straightforward as a quick tweet to Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, @jack but instead requires a few details so that the social media overlords can decide whether you are someone of public interest or not.

Although anyone can apply, the company does state that verified accounts are more likely to be sanctioned if you work in certain industries.

“We approve account types maintained by users in music, acting, fashion, government, politics, religion, journalism, media, sports, business, and other key interest areas,” said Twitter in a statement.

To begin this process you will need to visit the Verification page(https://verification.twitter.com/welcome) of Twitter’s help centre.

Here you will find a link to another page which outlines the various things you will need if you want your application to be successful.

In brief they include:

• A verified phone number
• A confirmed email address
• A bio
• A profile photo
• A header photo
• A birthday (for accounts that are not company, brand, or organization accounts)
• A website
• Possibly a scanned image of your passport or driver’s license

Alongside this basic information the site also says that a verified account should have the same name, or stage name, of the person in question. So if you currently go by @mrbigboy then you might want to reconsider your ID, and possibly reconsider some of your life choices.

Once you have gathered all of your supporting evidence together click the Continue button at the bottom of the screen and follow the step by step process.

Twitter will then consider your application and let you know whether it deems you important enough to be valid.