On Twitter, you may now become verified.

Years ago, Twitter verification was open to the general public. Previously, users could ask for a blue badge, provide information about why they should be verified, and present identification, and Twitter would approve or deny the request on a case-by-case basis if they were well-known enough. The blue checkmark on Twitter was supposed to be a means for famous people to warn other users that they were, in fact, themselves and not someone pretending to be them, but the company shut it down in 2017. Now, Twitter is publicly re-launching its verification programme, replete with a new, redesigned verification form, to the general public.

We need some context to understand why it had to be relaunched this way and why Twitter had to close the form in the first place. In late 2017, Twitter confirmed the account of Jason Kessler, the organiser of the neo-Nazi white supremacist demonstration "Unite the Right" in Charlottesville, Virginia, a move that drew widespread criticism from all corners of the platform. The firm apologised while also declaring that it was temporarily stopping the verification programme as a whole and shutting down the verification request form, but that it would be revamped and relaunched "soon."

They didn't, though. Since the form was closed, Twitter's verification badge has been a mystery, since the company has continued to manually verify people on their own terms without the use of a form. Your greatest chance of getting verified was to have a Twitter contact who could turn the switch on for you, which, as you might expect, is out of reach for the great majority of people eligible for verification. The new form, on the other hand, promises to offer all qualified people a fair chance to be verified.

There are six categories of blue badges now:

• Government
• Companies, brands, and organizations
• News organizations and journalists
• Entertainment
• Sports and gaming
• Activists, organizers, and other influential individuals

Your account must also have a profile name, a profile photo, a confirmed email address or phone number, be active within the last six months, and a track record of following Twitter's rules. We don't know if follower thresholds are a condition for verification, but it'll almost certainly be when it comes to requests from influential people, sports and gaming, and so on.

I was told by multiple sources that Twitter plans to launch the new self-served Verification Request form next week https://t.co/vI4q63WwJe

— Jane Manchun Wong (@wongmjane) May 13, 2021

The revamp of the verification form has been in the works for a while, and Jane Manchun Wong, who does not work for Twitter but identifies hidden/unreleased features in apps, has teased the feature for weeks.

Giving everyone access to a verification form can help de-mystify blue badges while also giving more individuals a chance to obtain one and reducing impersonation on the platform by allowing users to prove they are who they say they are. If you're interested in participating, keep an eye out for the form to appear in your Twitter app in the coming weeks. Twitter claims to be rolling out in stages so that they can handle the surge of queries.