4 ms·

It was annoying having to figure out why a person was verified. Especially if it turned out that the only reason was that they had a press pass.

by rdtwo 4y ago

ajross 4y ago
OK, you're just talking about the stratification then. That's really a very different argument. It's true that some people would want to be "verified" and couldn't be because they didn't meet whatever internal notability guidelines Twitter implemented. And it's likewise true that traditional news organizations had a shortcut to get anyone with a byline verified. And maybe that's unfair. But it has absolutely nothing to do with "expert". Verification was verification of identity. They told you that in the text that popped up when you clicked on the checkmark!
- ghaff 4y ago
  That's exactly it. Big media, for some definition of same, mostly got a pass--as did (I think) politicians. Pretty much everything else was at the whims of Twitter's algorithms which were presumably based on some sort of obscure notability score.
ghaff 4y ago
If you read the guidelines it was pretty clearly spelled out. With respect to journalists, from what I can tell "big media" like the networks, New York Times, major magazines, etc. were pretty automatic but things got sort of random once you go to small publications, contributors, freelancers, and so forth--especially those without a huge twitter fan base.
jakelazaroff 4y ago
Who cares, though? I truly don’t understand this obsession with the blue checkmarks, and so far no one has actually explained it to me. Elon said he was getting rid of the “lords and peasants system” by allowing anyone to buy a blue check. Why does having one make you a “lord”? Why should I feel like a “peasant” for not having one? It doesn’t make sense to me.
- rdtwo 4y ago
  I would have like to see that verified means their bio in the profile is correct. As to why it matters, well sometimes you have to trust an expert, Time isn’t infinite and you can’t research every/many topics in enough detail to have a good critical understanding.
  - jakelazaroff 4y ago
    But it never purported to indicate expertise. The given rationale was "is this person who they say they are".

It was annoying having to figure out why a person was verified. Especially if it turned out that the only reason was that they had a press pass.

by rdtwo 4y ago

It was annoying having to figure out why a person was verified. Especially if it turned out that the only reason was that they had a press pass.

ajross 4y ago

OK, you're just talking about the stratification then. That's really a very different argument. It's true that some people would want to be "verified" and couldn't be because they didn't meet whatever internal notability guidelines Twitter implemented. And it's likewise true that traditional news organizations had a shortcut to get anyone with a byline verified. And maybe that's unfair. But it has absolutely nothing to do with "expert". Verification was verification of identity. They told you that in the text that popped up when you clicked on the checkmark!

ghaff 4y ago
That's exactly it. Big media, for some definition of same, mostly got a pass--as did (I think) politicians. Pretty much everything else was at the whims of Twitter's algorithms which were presumably based on some sort of obscure notability score.

ghaff 4y ago

If you read the guidelines it was pretty clearly spelled out. With respect to journalists, from what I can tell "big media" like the networks, New York Times, major magazines, etc. were pretty automatic but things got sort of random once you go to small publications, contributors, freelancers, and so forth--especially those without a huge twitter fan base.

jakelazaroff 4y ago

Who cares, though? I truly don’t understand this obsession with the blue checkmarks, and so far no one has actually explained it to me. Elon said he was getting rid of the “lords and peasants system” by allowing anyone to buy a blue check. Why does having one make you a “lord”? Why should I feel like a “peasant” for not having one? It doesn’t make sense to me.

rdtwo 4y ago
I would have like to see that verified means their bio in the profile is correct. As to why it matters, well sometimes you have to trust an expert, Time isn’t infinite and you can’t research every/many topics in enough detail to have a good critical understanding.
- jakelazaroff 4y ago
  But it never purported to indicate expertise. The given rationale was "is this person who they say they are".