Do blue check marks make you green with envy?

Sure, social media verification is an ego thing: It’s nice to be acknowledged as “somebody” by social media platforms.

But it’s also a business thing: It’s good for your brand to establish credibility with your audience and potential sponsors, get more followers to trust you, and prevent copycats from taking your identity.

In some cases, verified accounts may see benefits or previews before others. For example, verified Instagram accounts have access to the swipe-up feature even if they don’t have 10K followers.

Ready to go from green to blue?

Are you ready to go from green with envy to blue with verification? #socialmedia #contentbusiness Click To Tweet

Tilt Advice

Fortunately, many of the principles to grow a solid content business are what’s needed to get verified by Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and Twitch. You need to have an audience and credible content that attracts the attention of third parties on and off the platform.

Instagram and Facebook

Shortcut: Facebook and Instagram guidelines

Criteria on Instagram and Facebook for verified accounts include being authentic, complete, unique, and notable. 

Authentic and complete are easy to achieve today – you have to prove you are a real person or business, and your account profile must be detailed and public.

Achieving unique and notable depends on how far along your content business is. Your brand identity should stand out – @sillymemes, for example, would be too general while @iamspencerx is specific to the individual’s brand.

Facebook and Instagram also verify accounts featured in multiple news sources (paid or sponsored media doesn’t count.)

Caveat: Facebook also doesn’t allow “add me” links to other social media in your profile.

Twitter

Shortcut: Twitter guidelines 

Twitter recently reopened its verification process in so much detail we wish all platforms would follow suit.

Blue check mark requirements on @Twitter are clearly detailed. We wish all #socialmedia would follow suit, says @AnnGynn #verification #contentbusiness #contententrepreneurs Click To Tweet

It verifies these types of accounts: government; companies, brands, and organizations (and their prominent executives); news organizations and journalists; entertainment; sports and gaming; activists, organizers, and other influential individuals. 

Specific to the creator community, here are some details provided by Twitter: Individual accounts of artists, performers, directors, and others in public-facing roles if they have a website and it’s linked in the profile, and at least 50 production credits in their IMDB profile, or at least three featured references in the prior six months in a verified news outlet.

Twitter may verify established digital content creators if they have consistently published original content (regardless of platform) for at least six months prior to applying and meet the follower or mention criteria listed for other influential individuals (see below).

Don’t fit into the above categories? You still have a chance. On Twitter, your follower count or volume conversations (mentions, follower growth rate, or other internal signals) must be in the top 0.05% of active accounts in your geographic region. And off Twitter, you must have one of the following:

  • Profile on Google Trends with evidence of recent search activity
  • Stable Wikipedia article about yourself that meets that platform’s notability standards
  • Three or more featured references in news outlets within the prior six months

Twitch

Shortcut: First step on Twitch

Go purple, not blue, with your verification check mark on Twitch. There is no mystery or subjectivity to getting reviewed and verified here. All accounts in the Twitch partner program are automatically verified.

First, you must reach affiliate status. That requires at least 50 followers, at least seven unique broadcasts and 500 total minutes over the last 30 days, and an average of at least three concurrent viewers.

Note: You can’t apply for affiliate status. Twitch notifies individuals who meet the requirements.

Affiliates can reach partner status by streaming at least 25 hours over at least 12 days within the past 30 days. During that time, the average viewer count must be at least 75.

Then, submit your Twitch partner application.

Getting the prized purple check mark is part of @Twitch partner benefits. #streaming #contentbusiness #creatoreconomy Click To Tweet

TikTok

Shortcut: TikTok explains what it is, not how to do it

Similar to Facebook and Instagram, TikTok doesn’t set thresholds for verification. The TikTok explanation says the criteria include “whether the notable account is authentic, unique, active, and – of course – adheres to our community guidelines and terms of service.”

Self-styled TikTok expert Rachel Pederson says she thinks TikTok looks for:

  • Increase of followers (500 to 2K each day)
  • Growth in watch time and views
  • Publication of consistently viral videos
  • Users featured on major media platforms
  • Accounts verified on other social platforms

Other tips center around timeliness and relevancy, such as jumping on trends and using popular hashtags in your content.

About the author

Ann regularly combines words and strategy for B2B, B2C, and nonprofits, continuing to live up to her high school nickname, Editor Ann. An IABC Communicator of the Year and founder of G Force Communication, Ann coaches and trains professionals in all things content. Connect with her on LinkedIn and Twitter.