#bluecheck — Public Fediverse posts

Getting verified by Bluesky: a surprisingly easy process, no ID upload needed

My Bluesky account now has one thing in common with my pre-2023 Twitter account: a white checkmark inside a blue circle. But unlike the social-media status symbol that I’d spent a couple of weeks in 2014 lightly working the refs at Twitter to get, this one required no ongoing effort on my part and probably wasn’t necessary anyway.

That last part is because I had taken advantage of Bluesky’s domain name-based verification two years ago, after figuring out some wonkiness with WordPress.com domain registrations. That was an easy choice, since converting my Bluesky handle to @robpegoraro.com tied my identity there to a site at which I’ve been writing since the spring of 2011.

But I recognized how a domain-rooted verification regime could break in practice. What if an attacker registered a first name-last name domain to try to con a widely-followed journalist? What if somebody registered a domain name through Bluesky’s option to do that and then had that domain name only point to their own Bluesky profile?

So when Bluesky introduced a decentralized verification system in April, including the option of having a “trusted verifier” organization vouch for your account, I had to try it out. And by “had,” I mean I set it aside for the next month and change until my journalist pal Dwight Silverman, the Houston Chronicle’s longstanding tech columnist, got verified about three weeks ago.

That spurred me to fill out the Google Docs form for Bluesky verification. The form noted that Bluesky management reserved the right to require ID-based verification “at a later date” via an unspecified form of document and outlined such requirements as having an account representing “a real person, registered business, organization, or legitimate entity” and being ranked as “notable within your field and geographic region.”

After I selected “Journalist/News Organization” from an opening list of “Verification Categories,” the form requested my role at my publication, the address of that news organization’s site, and links to three recent stories under my byline. (I leaned on my PCMag affiliation for this part.) An essay-question screen invited up to 500 words of self-promotional copy, which I provided with an elevator-pitch version of my LinkedIn profile.

Twenty-two days later, a “Welcome to Bluesky Verification!” e-mail landed in my inbox. That Monday-evening message brought the heartwarming news that “you are notable and that we’ve confirmed you are who you claim to be, helping other users find and trust your account on the Bluesky app.”

It further advised that I should “avoid changing account names or handles,” not let my account go dormant for too long (no risk!), and refrain from violating Bluesky’s community guidelines.

I can live with all that. I also appreciate that this is the first verification badge which I’ve picked up on social media after playing strictly by a platform’s rules: My Twitter verification started with an IRL chat with a Twitter employee at a journalism conference in 2014, while somebody at Facebook verified my now-deprecated public page without me asking.

I got no such favor at Instagram, and seeing that platform ignore my reports of an obvious impostor has left me exceedingly uninterested in paying for “Meta Verification.” Which means my checkmark at Bluesky may be my only official social-media validation for some time to come, and I’m okay with that.

#authentication #bluecheck #Bluesky #BlueskyVerification #bsky #checkmark #domainNameVerification #FacebookVerification #socialMedia #TwitterVerification #validation #verification #verified

Getting verified by Bluesky: a surprisingly easy process, no ID upload needed

My Bluesky account now has one thing in common with my pre-2023 Twitter account: a white checkmark inside a blue circle. But unlike the social-media status symbol that I’d spent a couple of weeks in 2014 lightly working the refs at Twitter to get, this one required no ongoing effort on my part and probably wasn’t necessary anyway.

That last part is because I had taken advantage of Bluesky’s domain name-based verification two years ago, after figuring out some wonkiness with WordPress.com domain registrations. That was an easy choice, since converting my Bluesky handle to @robpegoraro.com tied my identity there to a site at which I’ve been writing since the spring of 2011.

But I recognized how a domain-rooted verification regime could break in practice. What if an attacker registered a first name-last name domain to try to con a widely-followed journalist? What if somebody registered a domain name through Bluesky’s option to do that and then had that domain name only point to their own Bluesky profile?

So when Bluesky introduced a decentralized verification system in April, including the option of having a “trusted verifier” organization vouch for your account, I had to try it out. And by “had,” I mean I set it aside for the next month and change until my journalist pal Dwight Silverman, the Houston Chronicle’s longstanding tech columnist, got verified about three weeks ago.

That spurred me to fill out the Google Docs form for Bluesky verification. The form noted that Bluesky management reserved the right to require ID-based verification “at a later date” via an unspecified form of document and outlined such requirements as having an account representing “a real person, registered business, organization, or legitimate entity” and being ranked as “notable within your field and geographic region.”

After I selected “Journalist/News Organization” from an opening list of “Verification Categories,” the form requested my role at my publication, the address of that news organization’s site, and links to three recent stories under my byline. (I leaned on my PCMag affiliation for this part.) An essay-question screen invited up to 500 words of self-promotional copy, which I provided with an elevator-pitch version of my LinkedIn profile.

Twenty-two days later, a “Welcome to Bluesky Verification!” e-mail landed in my inbox. That Monday-evening message brought the heartwarming news that “you are notable and that we’ve confirmed you are who you claim to be, helping other users find and trust your account on the Bluesky app.”

It further advised that I should “avoid changing account names or handles,” not let my account go dormant for too long (no risk!), and refrain from violating Bluesky’s community guidelines.

I can live with all that. I also appreciate that this is the first verification badge which I’ve picked up on social media after playing strictly by a platform’s rules: My Twitter verification started with an IRL chat with a Twitter employee at a journalism conference in 2014, while somebody at Facebook verified my now-deprecated public page without me asking.

I got no such favor at Instagram, and seeing that platform ignore my reports of an obvious impostor has left me exceedingly uninterested in paying for “Meta Verification.” Which means my checkmark at Bluesky may be my only official social-media validation for some time to come, and I’m okay with that.

#authentication #bluecheck #Bluesky #BlueskyVerification #bsky #checkmark #domainNameVerification #FacebookVerification #socialMedia #TwitterVerification #validation #verification #verified

Getting verified by Bluesky: a surprisingly easy process, no ID upload needed

My Bluesky account now has one thing in common with my pre-2023 Twitter account: a white checkmark inside a blue circle. But unlike the social-media status symbol that I’d spent a couple of weeks in 2014 lightly working the refs at Twitter to get, this one required no ongoing effort on my part and probably wasn’t necessary anyway.

That last part is because I had taken advantage of Bluesky’s domain name-based verification two years ago, after figuring out some wonkiness with WordPress.com domain registrations. That was an easy choice, since converting my Bluesky handle to @robpegoraro.com tied my identity there to a site at which I’ve been writing since the spring of 2011.

But I recognized how a domain-rooted verification regime could break in practice. What if an attacker registered a first name-last name domain to try to con a widely-followed journalist? What if somebody registered a domain name through Bluesky’s option to do that and then had that domain name only point to their own Bluesky profile?

So when Bluesky introduced a decentralized verification system in April, including the option of having a “trusted verifier” organization vouch for your account, I had to try it out. And by “had,” I mean I set it aside for the next month and change until my journalist pal Dwight Silverman, the Houston Chronicle’s longstanding tech columnist, got verified about three weeks ago.

That spurred me to fill out the Google Docs form for Bluesky verification. The form noted that Bluesky management reserved the right to require ID-based verification “at a later date” via an unspecified form of document and outlined such requirements as having an account representing “a real person, registered business, organization, or legitimate entity” and being ranked as “notable within your field and geographic region.”

After I selected “Journalist/News Organization” from an opening list of “Verification Categories,” the form requested my role at my publication, the address of that news organization’s site, and links to three recent stories under my byline. (I leaned on my PCMag affiliation for this part.) An essay-question screen invited up to 500 words of self-promotional copy, which I provided with an elevator-pitch version of my LinkedIn profile.

Twenty-two days later, a “Welcome to Bluesky Verification!” e-mail landed in my inbox. That Monday-evening message brought the heartwarming news that “you are notable and that we’ve confirmed you are who you claim to be, helping other users find and trust your account on the Bluesky app.”

It further advised that I should “avoid changing account names or handles,” not let my account go dormant for too long (no risk!), and refrain from violating Bluesky’s community guidelines.

I can live with all that. I also appreciate that this is the first verification badge which I’ve picked up on social media after playing strictly by a platform’s rules: My Twitter verification started with an IRL chat with a Twitter employee at a journalism conference in 2014, while somebody at Facebook verified my now-deprecated public page without me asking.

I got no such favor at Instagram, and seeing that platform ignore my reports of an obvious impostor has left me exceedingly uninterested in paying for “Meta Verification.” Which means my checkmark at Bluesky may be my only official social-media validation for some time to come, and I’m okay with that.

#authentication #bluecheck #Bluesky #BlueskyVerification #bsky #checkmark #domainNameVerification #FacebookVerification #socialMedia #TwitterVerification #validation #verification #verified

Getting verified by Bluesky: a surprisingly easy process, no ID upload needed

My Bluesky account now has one thing in common with my pre-2023 Twitter account: a white checkmark inside a blue circle. But unlike the social-media status symbol that I’d spent a couple of weeks in 2014 lightly working the refs at Twitter to get, this one required no ongoing effort on my part and probably wasn’t necessary anyway.

That last part is because I had taken advantage of Bluesky’s domain name-based verification two years ago, after figuring out some wonkiness with WordPress.com domain registrations. That was an easy choice, since converting my Bluesky handle to @robpegoraro.com tied my identity there to a site at which I’ve been writing since the spring of 2011.

But I recognized how a domain-rooted verification regime could break in practice. What if an attacker registered a first name-last name domain to try to con a widely-followed journalist? What if somebody registered a domain name through Bluesky’s option to do that and then had that domain name only point to their own Bluesky profile?

So when Bluesky introduced a decentralized verification system in April, including the option of having a “trusted verifier” organization vouch for your account, I had to try it out. And by “had,” I mean I set it aside for the next month and change until my journalist pal Dwight Silverman, the Houston Chronicle’s longstanding tech columnist, got verified about three weeks ago.

That spurred me to fill out the Google Docs form for Bluesky verification. The form noted that Bluesky management reserved the right to require ID-based verification “at a later date” via an unspecified form of document and outlined such requirements as having an account representing “a real person, registered business, organization, or legitimate entity” and being ranked as “notable within your field and geographic region.”

After I selected “Journalist/News Organization” from an opening list of “Verification Categories,” the form requested my role at my publication, the address of that news organization’s site, and links to three recent stories under my byline. (I leaned on my PCMag affiliation for this part.) An essay-question screen invited up to 500 words of self-promotional copy, which I provided with an elevator-pitch version of my LinkedIn profile.

Twenty-two days later, a “Welcome to Bluesky Verification!” e-mail landed in my inbox. That Monday-evening message brought the heartwarming news that “you are notable and that we’ve confirmed you are who you claim to be, helping other users find and trust your account on the Bluesky app.”

It further advised that I should “avoid changing account names or handles,” not let my account go dormant for too long (no risk!), and refrain from violating Bluesky’s community guidelines.

I can live with all that. I also appreciate that this is the first verification badge which I’ve picked up on social media after playing strictly by a platform’s rules: My Twitter verification started with an IRL chat with a Twitter employee at a journalism conference in 2014, while somebody at Facebook verified my now-deprecated public page without me asking.

I got no such favor at Instagram, and seeing that platform ignore my reports of an obvious impostor has left me exceedingly uninterested in paying for “Meta Verification.” Which means my checkmark at Bluesky may be my only official social-media validation for some time to come, and I’m okay with that.

#authentication #bluecheck #Bluesky #BlueskyVerification #bsky #checkmark #domainNameVerification #FacebookVerification #socialMedia #TwitterVerification #validation #verification #verified

Weekly output: Bluesky verification, brain-computer interface, Xfinity Mobile, resisting FTC commissioners, Comcast pain points

RIO DE JANEIRO–The organizers of Web Summit Rio have once again seen fit to have me moderate panels at their conference here (with my hotel paid for and my airfare to be reimbursed). And while last year I got away with only doing one panel, this year I have three: a discussion about Web3 possibilities Monday, a session on data privacy Tuesday, and a panel about AI in advertising on Wednesday.

4/21/2025: Bluesky Adds Blue Checks to Verified Accounts, But They’re Not for Sale, PCMag

Bluesky’s management continues to impress me with their thoughtful responses to problems that arise with that decentralized platform.

4/23/2025: I Controlled a Wheelchair With My Mind (Well, I Think I Did), PCMag

The research for this happened three weeks ago at NTT’s Upgrade 2025 conference in San Francisco (with that Japanese telco covering my airfare and lodging), but writing this post took some time. And then my editor had to find time of her own to edit this between all of the news breaking this month.

4/23/2025: Xfinity Mobile’s New Premium Unlimited Plan Doubles Data Without a Price Hike, PCMag

I felt a little confused covering a story about Comcast that did not involve a service costing more–especially coming a day after T-Mobile announced a rate rewrite that looks like it will amount to a large cost increase for many users.

4/24/2025: The FTC Commissioners That Trump Wants to Fire: We’re Not Going Away, PCMag

I spent Wednesday and Thursday at the privacy trade group IAPP’s annual conference in D.C. thinking that Verge editor-in-chief Nilay Patel interviewing Rebecca Slaughter and Alvaro Bedoya, the two members of the Federal Trade Commission that Trump wants gone, would be the newsiest part. And so it was.

4/25/2025: Comcast Execs: Our Pricing Is Opaque and We Can Be Hard to Do Business With, PCMag

Because I was busy getting ready for IAPP Thursday morning, I missed the Comcast earnings call that featured executives admitting the “pain points” the company had created with its customers. Fortunately, nobody else at PCMag picked up the story before I could get to it Friday.

#blueCheck #blueCheckmark #bluecheck #Bluesky #BlueskyVerification #brainComputerInterface #Comcast #ComcastRates #FederalTradeCommision #FTC #IAPP #NTT #NTTUpgrade2025 #pricingTransparency #RebeccaSlaughter #wheelchair #Xfinity #XfinityMobile

Weekly output: Bluesky verification, brain-computer interface, Xfinity Mobile, resisting FTC commissioners, Comcast pain points

RIO DE JANEIRO–The organizers of Web Summit Rio have once again seen fit to have me moderate panels at their conference here (with my hotel paid for and my airfare to be reimbursed). And while last year I got away with only doing one panel, this year I have three: a discussion about Web3 possibilities Monday, a session on data privacy Tuesday, and a panel about AI in advertising on Wednesday.

4/21/2025: Bluesky Adds Blue Checks to Verified Accounts, But They’re Not for Sale, PCMag

Bluesky’s management continues to impress me with their thoughtful responses to problems that arise with that decentralized platform.

4/23/2025: I Controlled a Wheelchair With My Mind (Well, I Think I Did), PCMag

The research for this happened three weeks ago at NTT’s Upgrade 2025 conference in San Francisco (with that Japanese telco covering my airfare and lodging), but writing this post took some time. And then my editor had to find time of her own to edit this between all of the news breaking this month.

4/23/2025: Xfinity Mobile’s New Premium Unlimited Plan Doubles Data Without a Price Hike, PCMag

I felt a little confused covering a story about Comcast that did not involve a service costing more–especially coming a day after T-Mobile announced a rate rewrite that looks like it will amount to a large cost increase for many users.

4/24/2025: The FTC Commissioners That Trump Wants to Fire: We’re Not Going Away, PCMag

I spent Wednesday and Thursday at the privacy trade group IAPP’s annual conference in D.C. thinking that Verge editor-in-chief Nilay Patel interviewing Rebecca Slaughter and Alvaro Bedoya, the two members of the Federal Trade Commission that Trump wants gone, would be the newsiest part. And so it was.

4/25/2025: Comcast Execs: Our Pricing Is Opaque and We Can Be Hard to Do Business With, PCMag

Because I was busy getting ready for IAPP Thursday morning, I missed the Comcast earnings call that featured executives admitting the “pain points” the company had created with its customers. Fortunately, nobody else at PCMag picked up the story before I could get to it Friday.

#blueCheck #blueCheckmark #bluecheck #Bluesky #BlueskyVerification #brainComputerInterface #Comcast #ComcastRates #FederalTradeCommision #FTC #IAPP #NTT #NTTUpgrade2025 #pricingTransparency #RebeccaSlaughter #wheelchair #Xfinity #XfinityMobile

Weekly output: Bluesky verification, brain-computer interface, Xfinity Mobile, resisting FTC commissioners, Comcast pain points

RIO DE JANEIRO–The organizers of Web Summit Rio have once again seen fit to have me moderate panels at their conference here (with my hotel paid for and my airfare to be reimbursed). And while last year I got away with only doing one panel, this year I have three: a discussion about Web3 possibilities Monday, a session on data privacy Tuesday, and a panel about AI in advertising on Wednesday.

4/21/2025: Bluesky Adds Blue Checks to Verified Accounts, But They’re Not for Sale, PCMag

Bluesky’s management continues to impress me with their thoughtful responses to problems that arise with that decentralized platform.

4/23/2025: I Controlled a Wheelchair With My Mind (Well, I Think I Did), PCMag

The research for this happened three weeks ago at NTT’s Upgrade 2025 conference in San Francisco (with that Japanese telco covering my airfare and lodging), but writing this post took some time. And then my editor had to find time of her own to edit this between all of the news breaking this month.

4/23/2025: Xfinity Mobile’s New Premium Unlimited Plan Doubles Data Without a Price Hike, PCMag

I felt a little confused covering a story about Comcast that did not involve a service costing more–especially coming a day after T-Mobile announced a rate rewrite that looks like it will amount to a large cost increase for many users.

4/24/2025: The FTC Commissioners That Trump Wants to Fire: We’re Not Going Away, PCMag

I spent Wednesday and Thursday at the privacy trade group IAPP’s annual conference in D.C. thinking that Verge editor-in-chief Nilay Patel interviewing Rebecca Slaughter and Alvaro Bedoya, the two members of the Federal Trade Commission that Trump wants gone, would be the newsiest part. And so it was.

4/25/2025: Comcast Execs: Our Pricing Is Opaque and We Can Be Hard to Do Business With, PCMag

Because I was busy getting ready for IAPP Thursday morning, I missed the Comcast earnings call that featured executives admitting the “pain points” the company had created with its customers. Fortunately, nobody else at PCMag picked up the story before I could get to it Friday.

#blueCheck #blueCheckmark #bluecheck #Bluesky #BlueskyVerification #brainComputerInterface #Comcast #ComcastRates #FederalTradeCommision #FTC #IAPP #NTT #NTTUpgrade2025 #pricingTransparency #RebeccaSlaughter #wheelchair #Xfinity #XfinityMobile

Weekly output: Bluesky verification, brain-computer interface, Xfinity Mobile, resisting FTC commissioners, Comcast pain points

RIO DE JANEIRO–The organizers of Web Summit Rio have once again seen fit to have me moderate panels at their conference here (with my hotel paid for and my airfare to be reimbursed). And while last year I got away with only doing one panel, this year I have three: a discussion about Web3 possibilities Monday, a session on data privacy Tuesday, and a panel about AI in advertising on Wednesday.

4/21/2025: Bluesky Adds Blue Checks to Verified Accounts, But They’re Not for Sale, PCMag

Bluesky’s management continues to impress me with their thoughtful responses to problems that arise with that decentralized platform.

4/23/2025: I Controlled a Wheelchair With My Mind (Well, I Think I Did), PCMag

The research for this happened three weeks ago at NTT’s Upgrade 2025 conference in San Francisco (with that Japanese telco covering my airfare and lodging), but writing this post took some time. And then my editor had to find time of her own to edit this between all of the news breaking this month.

4/23/2025: Xfinity Mobile’s New Premium Unlimited Plan Doubles Data Without a Price Hike, PCMag

I felt a little confused covering a story about Comcast that did not involve a service costing more–especially coming a day after T-Mobile announced a rate rewrite that looks like it will amount to a large cost increase for many users.

4/24/2025: The FTC Commissioners That Trump Wants to Fire: We’re Not Going Away, PCMag

I spent Wednesday and Thursday at the privacy trade group IAPP’s annual conference in D.C. thinking that Verge editor-in-chief Nilay Patel interviewing Rebecca Slaughter and Alvaro Bedoya, the two members of the Federal Trade Commission that Trump wants gone, would be the newsiest part. And so it was.

4/25/2025: Comcast Execs: Our Pricing Is Opaque and We Can Be Hard to Do Business With, PCMag

Because I was busy getting ready for IAPP Thursday morning, I missed the Comcast earnings call that featured executives admitting the “pain points” the company had created with its customers. Fortunately, nobody else at PCMag picked up the story before I could get to it Friday.

#blueCheck #blueCheckmark #bluecheck #Bluesky #BlueskyVerification #brainComputerInterface #Comcast #ComcastRates #FederalTradeCommision #FTC #IAPP #NTT #NTTUpgrade2025 #pricingTransparency #RebeccaSlaughter #wheelchair #Xfinity #XfinityMobile

#ElonMusk’s #X can’t send Blue subscribers their ad revenue-sharing payouts on time

Friday night is a good time to announce you’re not paying your bills.

"That’s not exactly what you’d want to hear from a program touting itself as “part of our effort to help people earn a living directly on X,” and the key to Elon Musk’s X dream for an app that handles #banking, stock trading, and other vital financial features."

#TwitterTakeover #BlueCheck #TwitterBlue #Twitter

https://www.theverge.com/2023/8/4/23820859/x-twitter-ad-sharing-payment-unpaid-delay-elon-musk

Twitter Blue subscribers can now hide their blue checks | #TheVerge

#TwitterBlue, which #ElonMusk is currently rebranding to €X Blue, now includes the option to hide the notorious #BlueCheckmark. Twitter Blue subscribers recently started noticing the “hide your blue checkmark” option on the web and in mobile apps, offering the ability to hide that they’re paying for #Twitter and avoid memes about how “this mf paid for twitter.”

#XCorp #TwitterTakeover #BlueCheck

https://www.theverge.com/2023/8/2/23816924/twitter-x-blue-subscribers-hide-blue-check-option

How to Build (And Destroy) a #SocialNetwork

Status means everything to platforms like #Twitter and Facebook. But contrary to what #ElonMusk thinks, it doesn’t come from a #BlueCheckmark.

"#TwitterBlue may be boneheaded as a revenue scheme, but it excels as a case study in how grappling for status can ruin a social network."

#TwitterTakeover #SocialMedia #BlueCheck #BlockTheBlue #BlueSky

https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2023/05/social-media-status-twitter-blue-checks-bluesky/673987/

Codes (#CodySimpson) has officially lost his blue check on that legacy social media platform. Wasn't sure if he was going to fork out to retain it or not, but think he made the right call (if there was one to even be made). Still hope him and #PrinceNeptune will find their way to these parts one day... #BlueCheck #Twitter #TwitterBlue

if you are looking for #elonmusk takes, #rightwing #content, #incel bs, bought #bluecheck​s, cheap fake produced videos of mishaps designed for #virality (hello no human context!) and so much of the like more, search no longer, go to #birdsite, click the #algorithm picked content from the #foryou tab. humongous loads of stomach cramps

#twitter #musk #birdapp #meme #memes #mamema #joinmastodon #mastodon #socialmedia

#ElonMusk brought into Twitter the throwaway culture typical of the rampant, cynical and violent capitalism that he represents.
The waste personified by all those millions of users who can't afford #bluecheck, condemned to be #TwitterGhosts.
#30March
#Anti_ElonMuskResistance

Instead of sending $8 monthly to #Twitter to get a #Wishdotcom brand #NFT in the form of a #BlueCheck, why not help your #Mastodon instance host offset their costs for providing us a safe space with proper #moderation?

This whole #decentralized #Fediverse thing would be a pipedream without their thankless work.

Thank to @jaz and the whole @toot.wales team

@dick_turpin
Is someone telling these ppl that anyone can add a #blueCheck, and there obsessive need to be #validated may be a sign of illness?

Thats a nice #blueTick you added after your #Fediverse account name all by yourself.

Hot tip: Its #pretentious.

#faceTwit #twitter #blueCheck #blueCheckTwitter #fakebook #fakebookThinking