Twitter dabbling with verifying identities

0 Comments | AFP, June, 2009

SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) — Authenticity badges were popping up at Twitter on Friday as the popular micro-blogging service tested a way to verify that people tweeting are who they claim to be.

Twitter accounts for celebrities Ashton Kutcher and Oprah Winfrey bore blue seals containing white check marks to indicate the identities were verified.

Kutcher's verified account had more than two million followers. There were dozens of others tweeting in his name.

There was also a verified Twitter account for four-time NBA champion Shaquille O'Neal of the Phoenix Suns.

Impersonation has been a bane for Twitter, which earlier this year suspended a bogus account set up in the name of the Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama.

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