Twitter is reportedly testing a different method to help people identify genuine accounts.
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How it would appear
With this a new tag will be displayed in the user’s profile if they have chosen to verify their phone number.
A small label would appear at the bottom of profiles of the users with verified phone numbers.
For now, it’s a simple tag, shaped like a shield with the text “verified phone number”.
The company will also provide an opt-out option for those who do not want this tag on their mobile numbers.
Double verification for blue tick
The site already advises users to verify their phone numbers and email ids to add more authenticity to an account.
It also designates such profiles with a separate label.
In order to gain that blue tick, you will have to verify both your phone number and email address.
Importance
The purpose is fairly clear, if an account is deemed officially verified there remains no doubt that the account is genuine and not fake or a bot.
This could be even more useful during elections when misinformation is rampant on social media platforms.
If Twitter decides to roll it out, the phone number tag could help judge an account’s trustworthiness.
Similar features
Existing features include the ability to label automated accounts so users know if the post was automated or if there was a human behind it.
Twitter also allows users to associate up to 10 accounts with a single phone number.
Tweet view count
It is also testing a view counter for tweets.
It will show up as a small eye symbol next to the heart symbol for likes, which will tell users the number of times their Tweet has been viewed.
However it’s unclear if this would be limited to the author or visible to everyone.
Edit tool
Twitter is also said to be working on an Edit tool.
With this the site will inform users if an embedded tweet has been edited, or whether there is a new version of the tweet.