Twitter

How do you get verified on Twitter? Get that blue checkmark that lets your followers know that your profile can be trusted? You can apply yourself, but make sure you qualify. These are the conditions Twitter officially says you have to meet:

The blue Verified badge on Twitter lets people know that an account of public interest is authentic. To receive the blue badge, your account must be authentic, notable, and active.

What does it mean?

Authentic:

Authenticity is just a confirmation of your identity. You will have to provide a link to the official website that references you or your organization. Official email address with a domain that is relevant to the category. For individuals, a photo of a valid government-issued ID should be uploaded during the process.

Notable:

This is where the decision is actually made. You must represent or be associated with a prominent brand or organization. Twitter may request different things in order to decide if you are in line with the criteria, depending on the category you choose to describe your profile. More proof you have, better are your chances. These are your possible references:

• News Coverage: articles that mention you or your organization multiple times. Blogs or self-published content are not admissible. These have to come from verified news organizations, mention you and may have to link to your website or your Twitter page.
• Google Trends: you need to prove that there is a significant volume of search linked to the category you are applying in and show significant public interest connected to you or your activities.
• Wikipedia: a stable Wikipedia article about you specifically. This seems like something that can be easily produced, but it has to meet Wikipedia’s notability standards. This is not a short Wiki blurb. If you go through this list, you’ll see that it requires numerical facts, independent sources, has to follow proper naming conventions, etc.
• Industry-specific references: depending on the category. Could be a link to an IMDB page for entertainers, personal pages within larger organizations, or similar.
• Follower or mention count: for certain categories, if your profile is in the top .05% follower or mention count for your geographic location it could be considered proof of notability.

It’s important to understand that this list is just a starting point. Twitter will use a mix of different signals from third-party sources and some internal signals to try to establish your notability.

Active:

This set of criteria is more technical. No bans for violating Twitter rules. Having a confirmed email address and a phone number. Shows activity in the last six months. Having a profile photo, name and bio completed.

Depending on the category you are applying in, you might be asked to fulfil all or some of the criteria mentioned above. Some requests may be more detailed, or you might be asked for several articles, more links to pages referencing your organization. Maybe your bio will need to be written in a certain way, and mention important pages you are connected to.

The blue check-mark can be revoked, or reassessed at any point. It’s a difficult process, but worth it. Nothing signals authority on Twitter as strong as a successful verification does.

How do you get a blue tick on Instagram

Verification on Instagram is much simpler, can be easily done within the app, and only has a few steps. Requirements are consistent across Facebook and Instagram since both platforms are owned by Meta.

Authenticity and notability must be confirmed, and links to articles are optional.

Authenticity is confirmed by providing a full name and a photo of an ID or a document that shows records of incorporation/registration. Notability requires explaining the audience and setting a category, but not much more than that.  

Some basic rules apply: profile has to be public, represent a real person, registered business or entity, and be its only presence on Instagram. The approval process is somewhat unclear, considering the amount of information required, so it is more focused on the platform’s internal assessment criteria. Although it seems it is not completely transparent, and the outcome is not certain, you should give it a go. It does signal value and could contribute to your online credibility.