The blue check mark we all crave on social media platforms is often mysteriously difficult to achieve. How do people get it? Twitter allowed people to submit themselves for a time, but that system is currently suspended. However, Instagram is giving it a whirl.
The company has announced a number of updates released today, according to Select All, all linked to safety. You can now check if a large account has ever changed its name, when they joined, and if they’ve run ads.
You can also submit yourself for verification, which comes with some benefits. Those include embedding swipe up ads in Instagram stories and having people take you more seriously — comments of verified people have more weight in visibility and it’s a reassurance to those following you that you’re who you claim to be.
My Instagram is set to private, so none of those things appeal to me, but if you’re a budding entrepreneur and influencer, get in line! Prepare yourself to share personal information and some sort of government-issued identification to the app.
There are also four requirements to check off before you get that check mark, as Instagram wrote on their blog:
Authentic: Your account must represent a real person, registered business or entity.
Unique: Your account must be the unique presence of the person or business it represents. Only one account per person or business may be verified, with exceptions for language-specific accounts. We don’t verify general interest accounts (example: @puppymemes).
Complete: Your account must be public and have a bio, profile photo and at least one post. Your profile can’t contain “add me” links to other social media services.
Notable: Your account must represent a well-known, highly searched for person, brand or entity. We review accounts that are featured in multiple news sources, and we don’t consider paid or promotional content as sources for review.
Dang, no @puppymemes? Well, I’m out of ideas. It seems as though verified accounts will still be for people who have some relevance already, so keep building your brand and reaching for the stars.
Comments