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Twitter stokes confusion as 'verified' drama continues
Twitter's handling of legacy verified and Twitter Blue users continues to shift after a number of developments over the weekend.
Twitter's Blue subscription gets a slightly cheaper annual option
Twitter is now offering a discount for an annual subscription on its Blue service.
Twitter's new Verified service will include gold checks for companies, Elon Musk confirms
Twitter plans to launch its updated Verified program next Friday with manual authentication and different colored check marks for different types of users.
Gmail is about to start testing verification-like logos for email
Gmail is about to start testing technology that uses a company's logo to mark a message as authentic.
Twitter temporarily disabled tweets from verified accounts
In an effort to prevent more hacked accounts from posting crypto scams, Twitter has apparently chosen to disable tweets from verified accounts. Though the company has not yet confirmed this to us, Engadget staffers have experienced this with our own verified accounts.
T-Mobile and Sprint can now verify calls across their networks
Today, T-Mobile and Sprint are rolling out number-verification to customers across both networks. Using the STIR/SHAKEN standards recommended by the FCC, the carriers hope to better fight robocalls. Ideally, this will make it harder for spammers to spoof numbers and give customers more confidence that the number calling them has not been ripped off by a robocall.
Pass Tinder’s catfish test and you’ll get verified
In an attempt to deter catfishing, or that awkward moment when you show up for a date and the other person looks nothing like their photos, Tinder is introducing a new Photo Verification feature. The tool will compare a series of real-time posed selfies to existing profile photos. If the photos match and pass a human-assisted AI review, the user will get a blue checkmark on their profile.
Google adds spam detection and verified business SMS to Messages
Businesses often send one-time passwords, account alerts and appointment confirmations via text. But if you've ever received one of those, you know they tend to come from a random number, and bad actors can take advantage of that by disguising phishing scams as one of those messages. To protect users, Google will soon verify SMS messages from registered businesses.
YouTube reverses course on 'verification' -- you will keep your badges
Yesterday YouTube announced plans to change its policy around channel verification status. In a move to follow other social networks, the company said changes tying approval to authenticity and prominence would mean some might lose their tag, and would have to go through appeals to keep it. After a quick and loud backlash to the plan YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki apologized, and YouTube just announced "Channels that currently have verification will now keep it without appeal." The plan is still to reopen its process for verification next month for all channels that have over 100,000 subscribers, with an eye toward stamping the tag on channels that are both "authentic" and "complete." YouTube Support: What's happening with channel verification? We won't remove verification based on the criteria we announced yesterday. If you received an email that your channel will no longer be verified, you no longer need to submit an appeal. You'll keep verification on your channel. As always, we'll still remove verification if we find that a channel is attempting to impersonate another creator or brand. If you change your channel's name, the renamed channel won't be verified and you'll need to reapply.
YouTube CEO apologizes for channel verification mess (updated)
YouTube came under fire Thursday after changes to its verification program meant several prominent YouTubers will lose the coveted status. CEO Susan Wojcicki has since apologized for the "frustration and hurt that we caused with our new approach to verification." Update (6:25 PM ET): Wojcicki has announced that currently verified channels will keep their badges without needing to appeal.
YouTube makes verification harder to earn, and some will lose it
YouTube is about to make it considerably harder to earn that coveted "verified" status. The service has outlined a revamp of the verification process that will ditch the previous 100,000-subscriber requirement in favor of approving channels based on authenticity and prominence. It should behave more like verification on social networks, in other words -- there has to be a real concern that someone might impersonate a channel or otherwise spark confusion. Any channel that meets the new requirements will automatically receive the treatment when the updated verification system is ready in late October, while those that don't will receive notices and must appeal if they believe it's a mistake.
Bots have invaded Instagram comments
The last thing I expected to find on Instagram was someone telling me not to look at their Story if I didn't want to masturbate. But that comment, which I can only assume was intended reverse psychology, wasn't just directed at me. It was left on a post from Sky Sports and, thanks to the thousands of likes garnered by the comment, it was the first thing the account's 2.7 million followers would see when they looked at the comments on that picture. There are similar comments all over Instagram, particularly on high-profile pages with millions of followers. And they have one thing in common: They're spam profiles with pictures and videos of naked and half-naked women, which were created to get you to look at their accounts and then have you sign up for shady pornographic sites.
Twitter pulls conspiracist's verified badge after celebrity outrage
Twitter's stricter approach to verification isn't just taking checkmarks away from the leaders of racist groups. The social network has pulled the verified badge from conspiracy peddler Liz Crokin after Chrissy Teigen and her husband John Legend reacted to Crokin's unsupported claims that the two were trafficking their child in a Washington, DC pedophile ring. As Teigen explained, it didn't make sense that Twitter would verify someone who was accusing her of horrific acts, especially not when this person has nearly 50,000 followers.
Twitter tries to fix verification of people 'we in no way endorse'
Sure, being verified on social media isn't always as good as people think, but after a recent blowup, Twitter says it's addressing the "perception" of endorsement a blue checkmark confers. While the network has notably verified the accounts of self-proclaimed white supremacists and Nazis, it appears to be reversing that policy. One item on the new list of reasons an account can lose verification cites promoting hate against certain races/nationality or supporting groups that do. Loss of verified status Twitter reserves the right to remove verification at any time without notice. Reasons for removal may reflect behaviors on and off Twitter that include: Intentionally misleading people on Twitter by changing one's display name or bio. Promoting hate and/or violence against, or directly attacking or threatening other people on the basis of race, ethnicity, national origin, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, religious affiliation, age, disability, or disease. Supporting organizations or individuals that promote the above. Inciting or engaging in harassment of others. Violence and dangerous behavior Directly or indirectly threatening or encouraging any form of physical violence against an individual or any group of people, including threatening or promoting terrorism Violent, gruesome, shocking, or disturbing imagery Self-harm, suicide Engaging in activity on Twitter that violates the Twitter Rules.
Twitter halts verification after backlash over Charlottesville organizer
Over the last month, Twitter seemed to finally wake up to the need to fight the rampant hate speech and abuse that happens on its platform. That made yesterday's decision to verify Jason Kessler, the leader of the white supremacist rally that took place in Charlottesville, VA this summer, incredibly odd (or incredibly foolish). Regardless, the blue checkmark is firmly in place on Kessler's account, and users pretty quickly told Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey they weren't happy about this move. This morning, Twitter responded -- not by revoking Kessler's verified status, but by saying it was pausing all general verifications to resolve confusion around what being verified really means. "Verification was meant to authenticate identity & voice," reads a tweet on the company's support account, "but it is interpreted as an endorsement or an indicator of importance."
Google adds security features to help block unverified apps
After dealing with security concerns like the Google Docs phishing debacle, Google has been adding quite a few new security features for its services and apps, including better protection for Gmail accounts and whitelist procedures for G Suite users. Now, the company is adding a new warning screen for any apps from developers that haven't gone through Google's app verification system, yet.
Twitter takes down a site that archives popular users' tweets
While Twitter isn't completely opposed to third-party sites preserving tweets, it has its limits: the social network has effectively shut down PostGhost, a days-old service that archived the tweets of verified users with "tens of thousands" of followers. Twitter would only tell us that the site was violating its developer tool policies, such as honoring content as it's displayed on Twitter proper. However, you could also argue that it just wasn't as discriminating as Politwoops is now -- it was targeting anyone with a blue checkmark.
Twitter has a new app to help celebrities chat with fans
To help celebrities, public figures and other influencers more actively engage with their audiences, Twitter has a new standalone app that offers some helpful insight. The appropriately named Engage app is divided into three main sections to break down the social info. FIrst, there's a section that lets you know when someone verified follows or mentions you alongside tweets from the most loyal fans and accounts that are followed by several of the your followers. That's also a an "Understand" section for the analytics numbers for showing likes, retweets, mentions, impressions and more.
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?
Twitter helps verified users keep trolls out of their tweets
It's not all sunshine and roses for Twitter's verified users. They may have more features, but that blue checkmark also makes them a bullseye for trolls, spammers and people who simply have a chip on their shoulder. This group should have an easier time having meaningful discussions from now on, though. Twitter has started giving verified iOS users a simple "quality filter" that lets them remove abusive remarks, duplicate content and suspicious accounts from their notifications. The social network already had tailored filtering, but this new option theoretically cleans things up with the flick of a switch.
