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>7. let people pay to get a checkmark Isn't (or maybe "wasn't") the intention of the check mark to differentiate legitimate public figures from those who would

>7. let people pay to get a checkmark Isn't (or maybe "wasn't") the intention of the check mark to differentiate legitimate public figures from those who would attempt to create fake profiles and impersonate them? Lately it seems like anyone who has had any sort of notoriety has been getting one, but if you could just pay for it instead that would completely defeat the purpose.

0xCMP 10y ago
For people maybe, but now that twitter is at scale it might not be for someone who cares about their brand
jamestnz 10y ago
I think both. Don't take away the need to be a public figure and to verify your identity. Just make them pay in addition to these things. If you're a big enough public figure to want/need the blue tick, you're arguably making commercial use of twitter already, so you probably have a marketing budget that can sink a thousand bucks a year into maintaining your verified status with Twitter (in addition to proving your identity in usual ways). If some famous person doesn't want to pay, that's fine: either quit using twitter's platform to market yourself, or continue but live without the tick.
- iamatworknow 10y ago
  I'm not sure I agree with your assessment of the type of people verified on twitter. I mainly use twitter to follow comedians, and most of them don't make a ton of money (surely not enough to afford "a thousand bucks a year" -- one of my favorite comedians working today has said publicly that he made all of $16k in 2015). And a few have become the victims of imposters who attempt to disrupt their careers by taking on their identity and messaging comedy clubs or TV networks or whatever. I don't think they are an untapped revenue stream.
  - neotek 10y ago
    >one of my favorite comedians working today has said publicly that he made all of $16k in 2015). Who's that?
petetnt 10y ago
You can just request a checkmark from https://support.twitter.com/articles/20174631 https://support.twitter.com/articles/20174631. "The blue verified badge on Twitter lets people know that an account of public interest is authentic. We approve account types maintained by users in music, acting, fashion, government, politics, religion, journalism, media, sports, business, and other key interest areas. If you believe your account is of public interest and should be verified, this article outlines information about submitting a request."

0xCMP 10y ago

For people maybe, but now that twitter is at scale it might not be for someone who cares about their brand

jamestnz 10y ago

I think both. Don't take away the need to be a public figure and to verify your identity. Just make them pay in addition to these things. If you're a big enough public figure to want/need the blue tick, you're arguably making commercial use of twitter already, so you probably have a marketing budget that can sink a thousand bucks a year into maintaining your verified status with Twitter (in addition to proving your identity in usual ways). If some famous person doesn't want to pay, that's fine: either quit using twitter's platform to market yourself, or continue but live without the tick.

iamatworknow 10y ago
I'm not sure I agree with your assessment of the type of people verified on twitter. I mainly use twitter to follow comedians, and most of them don't make a ton of money (surely not enough to afford "a thousand bucks a year" -- one of my favorite comedians working today has said publicly that he made all of $16k in 2015). And a few have become the victims of imposters who attempt to disrupt their careers by taking on their identity and messaging comedy clubs or TV networks or whatever. I don't think they are an untapped revenue stream.
- neotek 10y ago
  >one of my favorite comedians working today has said publicly that he made all of $16k in 2015). Who's that?

petetnt 10y ago

You can just request a checkmark from https://support.twitter.com/articles/20174631 https://support.twitter.com/articles/20174631. "The blue verified badge on Twitter lets people know that an account of public interest is authentic. We approve account types maintained by users in music, acting, fashion, government, politics, religion, journalism, media, sports, business, and other key interest areas. If you believe your account is of public interest and should be verified, this article outlines information about submitting a request."