This article was published in Scientific American’s former blog network and reflects the views of the author, not necessarily those of Scientific American
Celebrities, journalists and politicians are all likely to receive the coveted Verified badge on Twitter. Presumably, this is due to all of these careers adding value to the platform for the average user, and to distinguish their identities from malicious imposters and parody accounts.
There's another group that adds consistent value to the experience of using Twitter: image creators. Fine artists, illustrators, videogame and movie conceptual artists, comic book artists, web cartoonists and professional photgraphers all add a tremendous amount of value - the images appear right in your feed! - to the Twitter platform.
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Dear @Twitter, how about a "Verified Artist" badge for artists who post their own work on Twitter? RT if you agree! #artcred
— Glendon Mellow (@FlyingTrilobite) July 28, 2015(Retweet this ^^^ if you agree!)
There's so many pro & internet-established artists on Twitter that a verification badge would help ppl know they're sharing from the source.
— Glendon Mellow (@FlyingTrilobite) July 31, 2015If it's worth it for celebs & journalists, & if @Support is removing infringed jokes, a "Verified Artist" badge seems a logical extension.
— Glendon Mellow (@FlyingTrilobite) July 31, 2015I think the time has come for a Verified Artist badge. It would allow users to know they are retweeting from the source. It could potentially raise the profile of the creators themselves, instead of the rapid image-churning sites like @HistoryInPics and @IFLScience. Obviously it wouldn't cut down on all uncredited sharing. But images have been proven to draw more attention on social media than posts without them - it's why Twitter began putting images and then video inline in your feed in the first place.
Agree? Disagree? Let me know on Twitter @FlyingTrilobite, and if you agree, retweet the first tweet embedded above (also found here).
Yes, I have violated Twitter's ToS and messed with their logo. Again. To create value and extend their brand, of course.