How To Get Verified On Twitter: Apply Yourself

Twitter announced Tuesday a new way to get verified on its popular social media platform: Apply yourself.

Previously, Twitter hand-picked the select few who got the blue checkmark next to their names, signifying it was the actual account of a celebrity, athlete, reporter or other popular figure on the platform. Anyone hoping to achieve the 140-character-at-a-time glory could do little more than hope or pray.

Not for much longer.

Twitter is in the midst of rolling out an application process for plebes and common folk to make their case for verified status. Anyone wanting to petition Twitter will need to show the following:

• A full account, including a real name, photo, website, phone number, email address and bio.
• A legit reason why they should be verified. "If the account represents a person, we want to understand their impact in their field. If it represents a corporation or company, let us know their mission," Twitter says.
• Links to back up your claims. "Choose sites that help express the account holder’s newsworthiness or relevancy in their field," Twitter says.
• A government ID, in some cases, to confirm your identity.

It's unclear exactly how long the process will take. But anyone who gets declined can try again 30 days after they get their rejection email.

The form was not live Tuesday afternoon. A link to it sent users to this page, which said, "Over the next few days we're rolling out an easy way to apply for verified account status."

We'll update this post as soon as the verification form goes up.