Still need to get your band verified on Twitter? Good luck
Twitter’s verification process has long been broken. I mean, if Jason Kessler, the organiser of the violent Unite the Right white supremacist rally in the US can gain a blue tick next to his name, we have a problem.
In fact, just a few years ago there wasn’t even a form to apply for verification, it was about who you knew (namely at Twitter), and gaining what the company calls VIT (Very Important Tweeter) status.
Now, Twitter promises that little blue tick of validation is solely about authenticating your identity and voice. It also admits its system is flawed and has paused all verifications.
Verification was meant to authenticate identity & voice but it is interpreted as an endorsement or an indicator of importance. We recognize that we have created this confusion and need to resolve it. We have paused all general verifications while we work and will report back soon
— Twitter Support (@TwitterSupport) November 9, 2017
The verification process is simple enough, users must submit several ID types like a passport and driver’s license, along with a summary of why you deserve to be verified. However, something is amiss in the vetting process.
As Motherboard reports, Rebecca Watson, a popular science podcaster and founder of Skepchick couldn’t get verified to stop trolls who made fake accounts; yet white supremacists like Richard Spencer and Jason Kessler are verified. It should be known that one of Jason Kessler’s rallies caused the death of a protester when neo-Nazi James Alex Fields Jr. intentionally drove his car into the crowd.
Looks like I FINALLY got verified by Twitter. I must be the only working class white advocate with that distinction. pic.twitter.com/IMXqtmhgvn
— Jason Kessler (@TheMadDimension) November 7, 2017
So where does this leave artists? If Twitter says verification exists only as a means of identification, not endorsement, then why is it so damn hard to get verified? And if Twitter has outwardly communicated that a blue tick does not equal an endorsement of that user, then why is Ed Ho, Twitter’s GM of consumer product and engineering, questioning how the tick is used?
We should have stopped the current process at the beginning of the year. We knew it was busted as people confuse ID verification with endorsement. Have to fix the system, pausing until we do. https://t.co/HSLbJOG2AN
— Ed Ho (@mrdonut) November 9, 2017
Larger question for everyone on Twitter: Should it ever appear that Twitter is endorsing anyone with something as prominent as a blue check mark or should we only authenticate info in a profile?
— Ed Ho (@mrdonut) November 9, 2017
One thing is clear though, Twitter’s verification process is currently paused as it undergoes a major overhaul, so until the company is clear on exactly how the blue tick should be perceived and how its admin privileges will run, artists and brands alike have little chance of getting that sought-after blue tick.
We should’ve communicated faster on this (yesterday): our agents have been following our verification policy correctly, but we realized some time ago the system is broken and needs to be reconsidered. And we failed by not doing anything about it. Working now to fix faster. https://t.co/wVbfYJntHj
— jack (@jack) November 9, 2017
This article originally appeared on The Industry Observer, which is now part of The Music Network.