Skip to main content

Google+ said to launch verified celebrity accounts

Google-plus-william-shatner
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Taking a page out of Twitter’s playbook, Google+ will soon institute verified accounts for celebrities, reports CNN. The validation system will prevent users from impersonating celebrities.

The new system is part of Google’s broader “celebrity acquisition plan” for Google+,  according to “Google emails” acquired by CNN. Hollywood consultant Brett Schulte furthers the rumors about Google’s star-eyed intentions, saying that Google is “very interested in having celebrities” on Google+. Schulte ads that the company is currently exploring a range of possibilities for the verification process. This may include a “button” that appears on a confirmed celebrity’s profile, similar to the “verified” stamp on official celebrity Twitter pages.

Recommended Videos

A Google spokesperson would not confirm its plans for celebrity verification, but told CNN that the company has plans “to add a lot of features and functionality to Google+ over time.”

Reports of the verification system come one day after Google inadvertently banned William Shatner from Google+, presumably because the company believed the famous actor’s profile was a fake. Shatner’s account was quickly reactivated after Google learned that it was genuine.

Like Facebook, Google+ has a site-wide policy that requires users to use their real names. The company has already begun deleting accounts that are reportedly fake or use pseudonyms. According to the Google+ profiles policy, the requirement of authentic identities is to ensure that “you can be certain you’re connected with the right person, and others will have confidence knowing that there is someone real behind the profile they’re checking out.”

It’s no surprise that Google would want real celebrities using its social network. One of the major draws to Twitter is the ability for the general public to connect with their favorite celebrities in a direct way. With users like Lady Gaga, who currently has about 11.7 million followers, Twitter has the coveted feature of proxy celebrity endorsement. Google+ could easily benefit from adding the same.

Andrew Couts
Features Editor for Digital Trends, Andrew Couts covers a wide swath of consumer technology topics, with particular focus on…
Bluesky finally adds a feature many had been waiting for
A blue sky with clouds.

Bluesky has been making a lot of progress in recent months by simplifying the process to sign up while at the same time rolling out a steady stream of new features.

As part of those continuing efforts, the social media app has just announced that users can now send direct messages (DMs).

Read more
Reddit just achieved something for the first time in its 20-year history
The Reddit logo.

Reddit’s on a roll. The social media platform has just turned a profit for the first time in its 20-year history, and now boasts a record 97.2 million daily active users, marking a year-over-year increase of 47%. A few times during the quarter, the figure topped 100 million, which Reddit CEO and co-founder Steve Huffman said in a letter to shareholders had been a “long-standing milestone” for the site.

The company, which went public in March, announced the news in its third-quarter earnings results on Tuesday.

Read more
Worried about the TikTok ban? This is how it might look on your phone
TikTok splash screen on an Android phone.

The US Supreme Court has decided to uphold a law that would see TikTok banned in the country on January 19. Now, the platform has issued an official statement, confirming that it will indeed shut down unless it gets some emergency relief from the outgoing president.

“Unless the Biden Administration immediately provides a definitive statement to satisfy the most critical service providers assuring non-enforcement, unfortunately TikTok will be forced to go dark on January 19,” said the company soon after the court’s verdict.
So, what does going dark mean?
So, far, there is no official statement on what exactly TikTok means by “going dark.” There is a lot of speculation out there on how exactly the app or website will look once TikTok shutters in the US.

Read more