On Thursday, Blueski quietly opened the door to those who want to be verified with social networking services. In a post published by the Bluesky Safety account, the company announced that “prominent and authentic” accounts will be able to apply for verification through a new online form.
Additionally, organizations can request that they become trusted verifiers in order to receive access to tools that can validate others. Bluesky began testing the feature last month, starting testing in a small number of organizations, including The New York Times, Wired and The Athletic.
For some on Bluesky, the blue verification badge is not a welcome addition as it reminds us to chase the influence that took place on Twitter (now X). For Twitter users, validation has now become the required status symbol before moving to paid subscriber perks under current owner Elon Musk. This represents a two-tiered system that some people deem to be more important or prominent than others.
However, Bluesky's approach to validation is found in other systems beyond the blue badge. In addition to extending verification to other trusted verifiers beyond the company itself, users can also self-verify by setting the domain as a username. To date, over 270,000 accounts have already adopted domain-based verification.
Image credit: Bluesky
What's less clear is how BlueSky considers the application from people who want it to be verified.
The company's online form lists several basic requirements, including active, complete (biofilling, profile photos, etc.), and secure accounts. It also represents a “real person, registered business, organization, or legal entity” and, if any, link to the official website.
However, when it comes to who or what is worthy of attention, the criteria are not that simple.
Bluesky said the prominent accounts are remarkable within the “field and geographical regions” and take into account a variety of indicators of attention, including “special awareness, media coverage of established publications, presence on reliable reference platforms, or other evidence of public interest.” There may also be certain other prominent requirements related to specific validation categories, but Bluesky does not document what they are.
“We consider the overall context and public interest value of each account,” reads the form. “Please provide links and evidence that will help ensure that your account meets the attentional criteria.”
The company says it will not respond to users unless an account is selected for verification. This means someone has to scan for inbound requests to prevent celebrities and other famous people from slipping through the crack.
The introduction of validation could have an impact on Bluesky's culture, which so far has been distinguished from social networks such as Twitter/X and threads, elevating some users over others. If it arrives after establishing a wider network of trusted verifiers, namely an organization independent of Bluesky, the announcement may have received better reception. It would telegraph the goal of not being the central authority of telegraph blueski more directly.
Elsewhere in the ecosystem, a fork version of BlueSky called Deer. Social approached validation in a more democratic way. You can then see the accounts that have been verified across your network by a trusted verifier. In this way, everyone can verify others and themselves without the need for a central authority. In other words, those who don't mind the verification version of Bluesky already have another option.
Bluesky could not immediately comment.