Twitter has temporarily paused accepting verification applications, just over a week after reintroducing the option to apply, although it will be back soon.
Twitter has suspended applications for verification on the site, despite the fact that the option to apply was only relaunched more than a week ago. Previously, it had not been allowed to apply for verification since 2017, when the option was removed due to misunderstanding about who could be verified and what it signified. Meanwhile, Twitter continued to independently verify certain important people.
The verification of an account belonging to a far-right activist and organizer of the Unite the Right protest in Charlottesville was one of the reasons that applications for verification were suspended in 2017. While Twitter stated that it intended for verification to be used to confirm the identification of significant individuals, it also stated that it had come to be perceived as “an endorsement or a signal of prominence.” It stated that it needed to clear up the misunderstandings, and CEO Jack Dorsey acknowledged that there had been a recognition of the need for some time but it had not been addressed. The ensuing examination of Twitter’s verification process took significantly longer than many expected, with the firm having to figure exactly which users deserved verification and how to apply it.
Fortunately, this pause in procedures should last far less time and for far less contentious reasons. Twitter has been swamped with submissions after restarting verification applications after an almost four-year hiatus. “We’re rolling in verification requests,” it tweeted, before clarifying that it would pause applications as it processed the requests filed in the previous week or so. It concluded by promising that applications would be reopened soon.
After an almost five-year hiatus — with the exception of one post in 2018 — the dedicated Twitter Verified account resurfaced on May 20 with news of the newly restarted application process. Since then, it has received inquiries concerning the procedure.
Much of that has involved reiterating where users can find the verification application portal in the Twitter mobile apps (Settings and privacy > Account > Verification request), that access to the portal is being rolled out over a number of weeks and that some users will not be able to see it yet, and that those who have applied for verification should have been given a timeframe for a decision after submitting their application.
It is now also informing users who did not have the opportunity to apply for verification during the brief timeframe that the roll-out of the portal link has been paused. “Once requests are open again,” it says, “we’ll resume rolling out access to the application process.” Naturally, some users may be frustrated that they did not have the opportunity to submit for verification before it was restarted, but what’s another few weeks after four years?
