Its already starting to happen… and you knew it would (or at least I knew it would)
You know what its like, your in the queue for the club and some small outfit walks straight pass you and your friends. You look at them and go back to your conversation with friends. They walk to the front of the queue, stand there for a moment. Bouncers comes over to that small rope, look at them up and down a few times. A word is spoken by the head of the outfit… suddenly the super stiff looks switches to embraces and smiles. The rope is lifted and the outfit strut in slowly enough to soak up the moment and viewership from the long line of waiting people.
What was said?
“We’re V.I.P”
We all hate those people but when your VIP (very important person) yourself, you can’t help but throw it in peoples faces (even a little)
So what’s the equivalent of VIP online? The network which was meant to unite us and equalise man and woman no matter there background?
Well recently there has been a large amount of talk about followers numbers on twitter. I won’t lie, I have quite a few followers myself and a restaurant in Manchester offered me a large discount if I simply tweeted that I was at the restaurant, enjoying the food and included a picture. This was common in the blogging days and to be fair my spam box every week has a offer from a company to review a product in return for money or the product its self. Of course you can never say you were paid to write a favourable review.
No followers is old news. The question is are you verified.
Do you have a verified twitter account?
From Twitter themselves…
Twitter proactively verifies accounts on an ongoing basis to make it easier for users to find who they’re looking for. We concentrate on highly sought users in music, acting, fashion, government, politics, religion, journalism, media, advertising, business, and other key interest areas. We verify business partners from time to time and individuals at high risk of impersonation. We are constantly updating our requirements for verification. Note, verification does not factor in follower count or Tweet count.
We do not accept requests for verification from the general public. If you fall under one of the above categories and your Twitter account meets our qualifications for verification, we may reach out to you in the future.
If you think you meet the criteria for verification and have not yet received a badge, please be patient. We are working within key interest areas to verify accounts that are sought after by other Twitter users. We don’t accept verification requests from the general public, but we encourage you to continue using Twitter in a meaningful way, and you may be verified in the future.
How do you like that slap in the face, general public? The same people who made Twitter successful…
No one really knows how Twitter chooses who to verify but if you are verified, you just joined the mile high club, are swimming with the big boys, must be a Very Important Person or brand. You joined the super elite and not even the 1% can claim to be verified. You are the 0.001% and you are truly elite or as us geeks say l33t.
Does this mean you will be pushing back swarms of adoring fans, lovers or haters?
Who knows but mark my words… Forget about your Klout score, the word on the silicon streets is… are you verified? There’s already scams sites claiming to get you verified for a large fee.
And recently Rappers rapping about being verified! Check it out if you don’t believe me…
As Kenya’s Capital Radio station says…
So now that you are verified, does this make you a special tweep? Actually, yes, it does.
A verified account appears on the ‘recommended wall of fame’ where users get a suggestion on whom to follow in different categories; Very crucial to gaining followers new to Twitter or in your geo-location.
Your followers can DM you without necessarily following-back or you can respond to tweets with an option to exclude the responses on the time line. This helps to manage your twitter conversations.
The clear advantage a verified account has is the credibility it adds to your account, brand or channel. Twitter has officially recognized you as an ‘authentic authority’.
Will this translate into adoring fan, lovers and of course haters? Just wait for the moment when someone uses it as a chat up line or throws it down on their business card. Its bound to happen. Cred, everyone wants a bit and it can you places others can’t touch.
Everyone wants to be inside with the cool kids not outside like the rest of the chumps.
To get a taste of the highlife… Anil Dash fills us in with the details. But don’t let it go to your head, your just like the rest of us…
The 99.999% be proud
This is utter foolishness. Anyone who values these kind of things takes the internet way to seriously. Put the phone down. Read a book. Take a walk in the park. If being verified and having a high number of followers is a priority, you may have some life reevaluating to do.
Don't get me wrong BKCarib… I agree but there is something which makes us look at those people who are in the VIP area with a air of contempt. Not quite sure what it is but deep down we kinda wish it was us too? You can lie and say nahhh not me, but its human nature…
I'm sure that it could create crowds of fans and haters. And it was definitely rather a beginning than the end of something.