August 29, 2018
If you consider yourself to be a “notable public figure” and have a healthy follow on Instagram, you can now apply to have the blue badge that makes your public status official.
Instagram considers the badge to be an important way for the wider community to know that the account being communicated with is the correct account for the person you’ve reached out to. This includes brands as well as celebrities and other entities.
To apply using the new system, you will need to provide your account username, your full name/business name and a copy of your legal or business identification. Instagram of course will not publicly share any of this information. There’s no defined timing so it’s not clear how long the process will take, but you’ll receive a notification to let you know whether your request has been approved or declined. It’s worth noting that at no point will there be any sort of payment request or financial exchange. This isn’t a route for Instagram to make more money and if you receive a message saying that for a small sum you can get a blue badge, this is a scam.
If you’re running a brand page and haven’t yet been verified, then now is the time to start the process of getting that blue badge. This new system giving increased access to verification will mean that the new audience you’ll be hoping to reach on the platform will see a reassuring badge. Not having the badge could be a small obstacle to forming a relationship between brand and consumer, as well as driving up the cost of message penetration.