Verification—that hallowed blue tick—is a pretty big deal on Twitter, but it’s also a thing on Facebook. Let’s have a look at how you can (try to) get verified on Facebook.
The Different Kind of Facebook Verifications
There are three different kinds of verification on Facebook: Profiles with a blue tick, Pages with a blue tick, and Pages with a gray tick.
Profiles with a blue tick are ones where Facebook has verified that the profile is the actual profile of the public figure it’s claiming to represent. For example, my friend Bryan Clark is the US editor at The Next Web. You can see he has a verified Facebook profile so you know that if you follow him, you’re actually following him.
Pages with a blue tick are similar. Facebook has confirmed they’re the official page of the public figure, media company, or brand that they claim to be. How-To Geek’s Facebook page is verified, for example.
Pages with a gray tick represent businesses and organizations that Facebook has verified are real and who they claim to be. For example, Trocaire, an Irish charity, has a gray verification tick.
How to Get a Blue Verification Badge
The process to apply for a blue badge is simple but, unless you are a public figure, media organization, or brand, you almost certainly won’t be approved. Like with Twitter, you need to convince Facebook you are worth verifying.
To request a blue verification badge for your profile or page, it needs to have:
A profile picture A cover photo A name that follows Facebook’s guidelines Content posted to the account “Follow” enabled if you’re trying to verify a profile
After making sure that everything meets the guidelines, head to this link and fill in the form.
If you’re attempting to verify yourself as a person, you will need to provide a government issued photo ID. If you’re attempting to verify a brand or media page you’ll need to provide a utility bill, a certificate of formation, articles of incorporation, tax documents, or something else equally as official. You’ll also need to add some information that shows why Facebook should verify you.
Facebook’s guidelines are a little at odds with themselves. They say on the form they won’t verify profiles, but provide an option to request just that. They also say they won’t verify brands, but also claim they are one of the few groups that can get blue verification badges. Like a lot of Facebook policies, their verification one is opaque, so you’ll just have to apply and see what happens.
Sadly, I got rejected.
Can You Get a Gray Verification Badge?
In theory, gray verification badges are for local businesses and organizations. However, I had to search very hard to find an outfit that was actually using one. Most local businesses just don’t seem to bother.
Similarly, when I followed Facebook’s instructions and tried to verify a local business in France, a local business in California, and various other pages I admin, the option to apply for verification just wasn’t there.
A lot is changing at Facebook at the moment so the feature could have been removed without a major announcement. If you’re interested in seeing whether you’re able to apply for a gray verification badge, open your page and head to Settings.
On the General page, Facebook claims there should be a “Page Verification” option. As you can see, though, that option is not there for me.
If it’s there for you, click it and then either enter a public phone number for the business or click the “Verify This Page With Documents” option. If you use your phone number, Facebook will call you with a 4-digit verification code. If you verify your page with documents, you will need to upload a document that shows your business name and address.
Whichever option you choose, Facebook will take a few days to compare the details on your page with publicly available information. If your info checks out—and gray checkmarks are still a thing—your page will get verified.
Social media verification has become a weird status symbol, but—as Twitter has found out time and time again—it’s difficult to do well. Facebook’s system is just as opaque and broken, but there’s nothing to lose by giving it a shot.
