Facebook follows Twitter, likes verified accounts

By Akanksha Seth | Updated: 5 June 2012 01:00 IST

Highlights

Reports indicate Facebook is set to launch verified accounts & extend the timeline feature to brands.

Facebook is expected to start allowing prominent public figures to verify their accounts and assume a pseudonym of their choice. According to reports in TechCrunch, those with verified accounts will get increased prominent placement in Facebook's suggestions. This is Facebook's way of ensuring that people are subscribing to true public personalities and not some impostors.

Users do not have the option to request verification, Facebook decides which accounts will be verified. The users will need to submit an image of a government-issued photo ID, which automatically gets deleted after verification.

Facebook will manually check for authenticity of any alternative names that may be provided by the user to make sure that the stage names, pen names.

One drawback, however, is that unlike Twitter, Facebook accounts wouldn't display a badge on approved accounts, effectively lessening Facebook's ability to guide users. Twitter has a small blue button with a white check sign, that helps users understand that it is a genuine and verified account.

As reported by AdAge, Facebook is also introducing its Timeline profile pages to various brands this month in the United States. Facebook declined to comment on when the said product would be launched, however, they did confirm that it would still have the same look and feel as the Timeline of today.

Introduced in September 2011, Timeline is like a scrapbook of all the events of a users life, as he or she posted on Facebook from the time they joined the social networking site.

In our opinion, this is a great idea. Users will get a clear picture about the history of the company, how it emerged, the environment surrounding its emergence, the obstacles they faced and how they're overcoming it etc. It's consumer psychology one-oh-one; people want to know that there is some personal meaning attached behind products. They want to feel connected to the company. This could serve as a platform for the brand image of the company to soar by leaps and bounds.

Facebook is trying every possible way to dominate your online experience - with new Timeline Apps having gone live last month, and the introduction of brand Timelines, it seems to be on the way to give the term 'Facebook Addict' a whole new dimension.

Facebook is expected to discuss the new Timeline development after its February 29th conference in New York targeted at marketers.

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