Vanity Fair: Fixing Twitter’s Louise Mensch Problem. “Twitter, which has historically been quick to verify accounts belonging to journalists and public figures, officially describes the blue checkmark as nothing more than a symbol that an account is authentic—meaning that it belongs to the person they claim to be and not an imposter. In reality, it means much more: once invite-only, now anyone can apply to become verified. The blue checkmark reads as a status symbol, and creates a sense of legitimacy. You may be more likely to trust a verified account simply because it’s been ‘verified,’ even though the designation signifies nothing more than an account belonging to a person ‘of public interest.'”