Having a lot of followers of Instagram will no longer get you a blue tick on the app. Although there was never a set number of followers required to get verified on Instagram, followers did play a key role in getting an account verified. However, the number of followers will no longer be the criteria for Instagram to verify your account as the company has changed the entire dynamics and algorithm that decides who needs a blue tick on the app.
Instagram head Adam Mosseri in a blog post said that they have been reviewing the way the photo-sharing platform verifies accounts for the past two months and as a result of which, they have made changes to the verification process.
“We spent the past two months reviewing Instagram’s verification practices and have started making changes to ensure a fairer process. An account must meet certain criteria before we verify it, including a degree of notability. We measure notability through press articles about the person applying for verification. We’ve now expanded our list of press sources we consider in the process to include more Black, LGBTQ+, and Latinx media,” Mosseri said in a blog post.
Mosseri further says that follower count was never a requirement to get a verification badge. “While follower count was never a requirement to get verified through the in-app form (which anyone can apply for), we did have certain systems in place that prioritized accounts with high followings to help get through the tens of thousands of requests received every day. We’ve since removed this from the automated part of the process,” he said in the blog.
To get a verification badge on Instagram, a user needs to ensure that the account they are representing is authentic. It should be public and have a bio, profile photo, and should have at least one post. The account should be unique, which means that there should not be any kind of duplicity. A brand or a person can only have one verified account. However, the most important factor is notability. The user should make sure that the account is well-known, highly searched for a person, brand, or entity. “We review accounts that are featured in multiple news sources, and we don’t consider paid or promotional content as sources for review,” the FAQ page on Instagram read.