Bluesky Announces Unique Take On Verified Accounts

Bluesky has announced its own unique take on verified accounts, giving users and organizations the ability to receive an “easily recognizable blue check.”

Bluesky is quickly establishing itself as one of the leading alternatives to X (formerly Twitter), and has been slowly rolling out new features since its founding. The latest feature allows users to verify themselves, adding a layer of credibility to their accounts.

In 2023, we launched our first layer of verification: letting individuals and organizations set their domain as their username. Since then, over 270,000 accounts have linked their Bluesky username to their website. Domain handles continue to be an important part of verification on Bluesky. At the same time, we’ve heard from users that a larger visual signal would be useful in knowing which accounts are authentic.

Now, we’re introducing a new layer — a user-friendly, easily recognizable blue check. Bluesky will proactively verify authentic and notable accounts and display a blue check next to their names.

Interestingly, Bluesky is also rolling out a Trusted Verifiers feature.

Additionally, through our Trusted Verifiers feature, select independent organizations can verify accounts directly. Bluesky will review these verifications as well to ensure authenticity.

Blue checks issued by platforms are just one form of trust. But trust doesn’t come only from the top down; it emerges from relationships, communities, and shared context.

So, we’re also enabling trusted verifiers: organizations that can directly issue blue checks.

Bluesky gives the example of a news outlet providing blue checks to the journalists that work for it.

Bluesky is clearly trying to address the challenges of verification in a unique manner, one that taps into existing relationships and trust models. It remains to be seen if the method will be successful long-term, but it certainly has far more promise and transparency than X’s purchase-based method.