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Blue Checkmark Revival
It took a little bit, but Bluesky found a way around its pesky extortion problem. That solution: The same one the former Twitter ditched just two years ago.
I think a lot about the minefield I accidentally stepped into back in December, in which I called out an impersonation scandal on Bluesky. It was messy, and some of the messiness (at least for me) only hit after the piece, which blew up a scammer’s spot, went online.
The situation, involving a well-known writer getting extorted for his domain name by a user who had commandeered dozens of sock puppets that shared usernames of popular Twitter personalities, was touch and go for a bit. On top of blowing up a scammer’s spot, fans of the domain-based verification system were not happy that I pointed out the flaws with that approach. But it ultimately was a valuable discussion to surface.
See, as much as people hated the haves/have-nots dynamic it created, legacy Twitter’s blue-checkmark system worked for its initial intended purpose. Which is why Bluesky is adopting its own take on it, announced this week. From their blog post:
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. Additionally, through our Trusted Verifiers feature, select independent organizations can verify accounts directly. Bluesky will review these verifications as well to ensure authenticity.
The reaction I’ve seen is mixed, but I think many see it as a positive. I’m one of them. Here’s why.
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Why blue checks—the old kind—make sense for Bluesky
It may be hard to remember given how many decades we’ve lived in the past five years, but blue checks weren’t always a popularity contest. Implemented in response to an impersonation lawsuit involving a famous baseball manager, they were an effective way to ensure that people who were famous, along with prominent information distributors, were actually who they said they were. It was not a perfect system, but it was better than people getting taken by crypto or extortion schemes.
The problem with Twitter’s system is that it fostered resentment among users, which blew up in a pretty significant way when Elon Musk took it over and decided to turn it into a pay-to-play system for getting attention. (Honestly, it feels like an appetizer to the main course that became DOGE—messy, chaotic, and disruptive just because.)
So while I can understand the apprehension in some quarters that Bluesky is essentially reviving the two-tier verification system from the pre-Elon era, it’s probably the right call. I think the domain verification system has too many flaws to be a singular verification solution, but instead makes more sense as part of a larger system.
Among the issues:
- Domain maintenance comes with security considerations. The impersonation issue I pointed out last year is just one manifestation of what can happen with domain management. If you’re not keeping a close eye on things—say, you forget two-factor authentication, or you misconfigure your domain—it could create security problems for you unrelated to your Bluesky username.
- You’re paying an easily-forgotten bill that changes every year. Paying for Twitter Blue is kind of a drag, but paying twice as much for the domain you purchased the year before is just as problematic. You may find yourself paying the equivalent of Twitter Blue fees without any of that money going to Bluesky.
- Good luck complaining to the manager. If something goes wrong with your account, Bluesky can offer support, but if something goes wrong with a domain out of your control, you might have to go the legal route to solve your problem. If you don’t have the resources to fight an issue like that you might be screwed.
Some may feel like the “personal responsibility” aspect of this kind of security approach matters. Yes, it does. But given that everyone is one botched credit-card payment away from having their domain verification disappear, there were some serious risks that emerged because Bluesky did not take a lot of responsibility for the old model. Does it centralize Bluesky more? Yes. But this admission that human verification still matters is key. After all, when scammers can verify themselves with a hands-off system, that’s a problem.
What Bluesky should do next
If there is one thing I might change about the system that Bluesky has rolled out: I might add an icon to highlight domain verification, separate from the human-based verification process currently being used, to show that a user has taken the step of linking their account to a domain.
Bluesky is still adjusting into its role as a key social tool with mainstream appeal, and it’s not perfect. The jabs at its inability to handle humor feel particularly true. It is lacking some subtle cues that other networks like Twitter have, which make people unaware of things like threads. And it is lacking important features that each of its competitors now have, most notably editing and longer character counts. But these are complex problems to solve, and Bluesky is building from scratch.
But overall, this is a win for users. As someone who surfaced some pretty pointed criticism about this very topic just four months ago, it was nice to see that it gradually appeared to manifest itself into a legitimate response. In the days after that situation blew up, my blood pressure went up a few times. But eventually things calmed down—and we now have a system that makes sense for both technical users who need the self-verification that domains offer, and VIPs who need the blue checks.
In terms of whether it’s about to affect the community dynamic? I recommend not overthinking it—because everything does when a community is still emerging.
Unverified Links
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