Bluesky is still implementing an official verification system. In an update, the company said that it plans to provide blue check marks to “authentic and visible” accounts. It will also allow some “trusted organizations” to verify users as well.
This change is a notable shift for the platform, which has previously resisted the idea of centralized verification. Until now, the company has relied on a domain-based verification system that allows users to change their descriptors according to the domains they are associated with. But this approach has often been criticized for being too complex and insufficiently anti-counterfeiting.
This criticism has only intensified as Bluesky has become more popular and attracted the attention of more famous users. For example, when former President Barack Obama joined Bluesky in recent weeks, his account did not use a special domain, which understandably led many users to question the authenticity of the account. Instead, some Bluesky employees publicly assured that the account was legitimate.
According to Bluesky’s new system, the company will proactively check certain accounts and add a prominent blue check mark to their profile. It is currently unclear what criteria Bluesky will use for these badges and how it plans to verify users’ identities. In addition, there will be a slightly different blue badge with “scalloped edges” that certain “trusted organizations” will be able to issue through a new “trusted verifier” feature.
The New York Times is one of those organizations, and the newspaper will now be able to hand out blue checks to its journalists. Bluskey did not say what other organizations would be able to participate in the program, but added that it would consider third-party verification to “ensure authenticity.”
Notably, Bluskey said that people and organizations are still “strongly encouraged” to verify themselves using their own domain. And it looks like new blue check marks may be in short supply, at least at first. “At this initial stage, Bluesky is not accepting direct verification requests,” the company said in a statement. “Once this feature is stabilized, we will launch a request form for known and genuine accounts interested in becoming verified or becoming trusted verifiers.”
