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How do you get 'verified' on Tinder?
I, Mat Smith, through the gift of working as a journalist here at Engadget, am verified. On both Twitter and Facebook. It's the social networks' way of certifying that I'm better than the muggles that people are who they say they are. I get a ticket to digital VIP room. Am I somebody? Not really. But you get certain bragging rights when you have that blue tick next to your name. Now Tinder's jumped on the bandwagon: It, too, has verified profiles. To be clear, there's no honorable, journalistic reason for me to be verified, but when I joked about getting such a certification on the online dating app, I received a flood of direct messages asking for confirmation (skeptics!) and for advice on how they could get the same treatment. Can I get Tinder Famous? Do I even want to?
Instagram celebrates 300 million users, which is more than Twitter
There's apparently over 300 million people on Instagram - and they're really sharing those photos: to the tune of 70 million stills and videos every day. The user count puts it above Twitter, although it's still far behind the number using Facebook -- which, well, owns Instagram. In the last year, it's added a People tab to coerce users into following more people showcase notable accounts, while Instagram's spin-off video app, the addictive Hyperlapse, also launched in August -- giving a better reason to post videos. While it might have reached a new user milestone, Instagram's now attempting to hack away at that number: you might have noticed a little notification inside the app saying that the team was purging spam accounts - warning, your follower count may drop. Meanwhile, celebrities, brands and other well-monied types are being granted with verified badges starting today. Apparently, Mat Smith The Brand still needs some work.
Twitter gives verified users a mentions filter / velvet rope
Twitter is making it easier for the truly famous to chat with each other in public, now that it's added a couple of new filters for users with Verified accounts. While the general public continue to have their mentions open to one and all, verified users can see their @ stream either "Filtered" to take out likely spam or "Verified" to pick out tweets from other blue checkmarked accounts. While this should make it easier for the famous to spot messages from each other (we'll keep reading every tweet mentioning @Engadget -- we're for the people) among those begging for RTs, or just trolling, we hope that at least the filtered option pops up for everyone soon. We have enough offers for weight loss secrets to last us a lifetime as-is, now it's time to see if Facebook and Google+ change how they cater to the high-profile.
Barbara Walters names Steve Jobs most fascinating person of 2011
This probably isn't the most important honor Steve Jobs has ever picked up, but Barbara Walters has named Apple's co-founder as the most fascinating person of 2011, as reported by USA Today. Unfortunately the article doesn't actually tell us why, instead focusing reality show personalities, only mentioning Steve Jobs at the end. If nothing else, this shows just how profound the effect of Steve's life and legacy has been. Amid an expected outpouring of emotion from the Apple community, several artists and mainstream news outlets have also honored Jobs and his work. Yes, temporary celebrity may be granted to these reality show stars and their ilk, but Jobs and his genius have built up a following across all kinds of different communities, and that's one of the most magical things about this man and his life.
Engadget's celebrity iPhone app showdown
It all began on a lark, really. When we realized that Jersey Shore's very own Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino had an iPhone app (and he had the temerity to charge $5 for it), we started thinking: Which other celebs have apps? How bad can they get? And who would win in an app store shoot-out between Kim Kardashian, Shaq, and Justin Bieber? The answer, as they say, will shock you. Journey past the break for Engadget's guide to the best and the worst (well, actually, just the worst) of the celebrity iPhone apps. %Gallery-103158%
Another celebrity joins the WoW fan club
The list of famous fans is getting longer as World of Warcraft becomes more and more popular. The first famous names I remember hearing about were a whole slew of cartoonists whose work I really enjoy: Roman Dirge (Lenore), Jhonen Vasquez (JTHM), Scott Kurtz (PVP Online), Mike Krahulik and Jerry Holkins (Penny Arcade), and Tim Buckley (Ctrl+Alt+Del). Now, being a long-time comic book geek myself, these guys didn't really surprise me when they said that they were playing World of Warcraft. After all, video games and comics are generally thought of as sharing space in the realm of the Geek. One of the next names did take me a bit by surprise -- that was when comedian Dave Chappelle proclaimed his love for WoW. After that, it was just a mattter of time. Brandon Routh (Superman Returns) admitted that he was a total WoW fan. Then he showed in an Eastvale Logging Camp t-shirt to the Video Game Awards, and got to introduce the world premiere of the Burning Crusade trailer to the rest of the world.But this most recent name added to the ranks is a new one to me. World of Warcraft has just gained a professional football player as a fan. In a recent interview with Nick Smith, the newly recruited offensive lineman for the New York Jets, WoW came up as a topic and he talked about his time in Azeroth. Or at least, said that he had been playing WoW until Burning Crusade came out.Yeah... I stopped playing when the expansion came out because I just couldn't keep up. Last summer though, I was like that guy in the South Park episode. I could kill anyone over and over again until they quit. It was awesome. That was pretty much all I did: eat, workout and play WoW.While I'm thrilled to see someone in professional sports join the WoW gamer fold, I honestly hope that he was just joking about being like any guy in a South Park episode. There are just certain images that really don't need to conjured up. O.o How about you? Do you know of any other famous names who play World of Warcraft? [via thejetsblog.com]
