Sunday, June 7, 2009

Twitter Verified Accounts possible revenue generator for microblogging service

Twitter plans to implement “Verified Accounts” this summer so people will know that the person or company they’re following is the real deal and not an impersonator.
Twitter co-founder Biz Stone made the announcement in a company blog post Saturday in which he responded to a lawsuit by St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa. La Russa filed a lawsuit against Twitter, claiming that an imposter using the microblogging service had damaged his reputation, according to the AP.
Twitter will offer Verified Accounts first to “public officials, public agencies, famous artists, athletes, and other well known individuals at risk of impersonation,” Stone said. “We hope to verify more accounts in the future but due to the resources required, verification will begin only with a small set.”
One thing he doesn’t mention is whether Twitter will charge for the service. And if so, how much?
Sounds like a no-brainer. I believe Twitter will have to charge for the service. It needs to start generating revenue from its millions of subscribers.

Screenshot of the beta for Twitter’s Verified Accounts service.

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