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Ask HN : How do Twitter verified accounts work?

3 points by dan_sim 17y ago

I was reading about Bill Gates joining Twitter (http://twitter.com/billgates) and wonder what's the process for having a verified account. How do they evaluate that someone is known enough to have a verified account? Is it twitter that communicates with the account holder or he has to make a request to twitter? How do they verify that it's the real person behind the account (probably with a special CNAME but maybe not?)

DanielStraight 17y ago
Presumably the same way anyone else verifies someone is who they say they are: by looking at their ID.
- dan_sim 17y ago
  I can't imagine Bill Gates giving personal informations to a company just to have a verified twitter account. Maybe you're right and if you are, I still can't believe it...
  - NikkiA 17y ago
    No, but you can imagine his publicist/agent/whatever arranging for twitter to call billG and discuss the situation, or vice versa, surely.
  - blasdel 17y ago
    No, he has a ~50 person company called "Watermark LLC" that manages his family's personal life. When one of them signs up for something, it's done by an assistant there that handles all contact.
pasbesoin 17y ago
I'm surprised that username "billgates" was available. Did some poor schmuck or imposter get the boot? Or did MS or his own PR lock it up early on? Edit: (Hmm, or did someone make a tidy sum?)