Dark Side of Social Media Verification

Social media verification is the latest trend in the market. After getting their profiles on various social media platforms like Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, etc., everyone seems to be running to get verified.

But what is social media verification?

Social media verification refers to the process of getting your social media profiles verified. This essentially refers to the blue tick mark that appears in front of your profile. This tickmark means that your profile is genuine, and you have cleared certain platform criteria to achieve this tick mark.

But these are all the technicalities associated with social media verification. It is more of a trend between the next-gen who are in a continuous race to outshow their peers. In the modern-day context, social media verification has become an eliteness associated with being an influencer. However, this is just a popular belief and doesn’t really have anything to do with being an influencer.

If you notice various verified profiles, you’ll notice that while there are many influencers who adorn this blue tick mark on their profiles, they are not all influencers. You will notice many brands, artists, and other individuals on the list.

Nevertheless, the world of social media verification is not the same anymore. While you needed to have a wow factor in your profile and talents to get the social media verification done, it has become a lot simpler these days, reducing the value of this verification sign.

What are the dark secrets being social media verification?

No social media platform has released the list of criteria that you need to clear to get a verification on your social media profile. However, some people seem to have cracked the code.

According to the popular understanding, these social media platforms look into various aspects of your profile. Here is what the common understanding has picked from the recent verification trends.

● Number of followers

While it is not important to have millions of followers on your profile, having a significant number of followers does help your motive. And believe it or not, these PR professionals have found ways to add fake followers to your profile to show that you have a massive following. While the fake number of followers reflects in the low engagement you get on your profile, it is still a trick nevertheless.

● Media coverage

Another trick in the arsenal of these PR professionals is paid articles. These PR professionals offer to publish articles about you in various publications. So, when someone Googles your name, your feature articles show up, helping you pretend to be popular. And believe it or not, this actually works.

● Applying for verification

Other than Instagram, there is hardly any social media platform that allows you to apply for the verification on your profile manually. There was a time when you woke up the next day to find the blue tick mark on your profile.

However, PR professionals claim that they can apply for verification on your behalf and also reapply in case of Instagram verification. How it is being done still remains to be a well-kept secret, but it has become quite popular in recent times, Of course, you do need to pay extra-ordinary fees to these professionals, but they seem to have gotten the recipe right.

Conclusion: The grey side of the social media verification

Yes, there is a lot more to the social media verification process than what meets the eye. However, defining them in black or white is not possible. It is about perspective. While some people believe it to be a legitimate process, others don’t. And the truth to be told, this has become a flourishing business. However, the authenticity and prestige of having a verified social media profile have definitely reduced with time.