Reddit is starting a limited test of verified profiles, which put a gray checkmark next to the usernames of famous people and companies.
“This feature is designed to help Redditors understand who they’re engaging with in moments when validation matters, whether it’s the experts and celebrities hosting AMAs, the journalists reporting the news, or the brands sharing information,” Reddit said in a blog post.
Believe it or not, there was a time on the internet when verification checkmarks simply verified that a famous person was who they said they were, not that they paid a monthly fee to Elon Musk or Mark Zuckerberg. But Reddit decided it might actually be a good idea to verify accounts of public figures to reduce the spread of misinformation.
Reddit acknowledges that pseudonyms are an important part of its culture, allowing users to express themselves more openly than if everything they say had their real name attached to it. However, Reddit says the feature is completely optional and opt-in. This verification feature does not indicate any special elite status and makes it easier for both ordinary users and subreddit moderators to quickly verify that someone is truthful about their identity.
However, just because someone doesn’t have a checkmark doesn’t mean they’re a scammer. Reddit is piloting the feature on a small number of profiles, and even if the checkmarks are fully rolled out, it’s still possible that some famous Reddit users will not get them.
For example, Tony Hawk posts very casually on a skateboarding subreddit, simply chatting with like-minded fans about his favorite sport. He is just like us! But his spot blows up a bit when he shares his own skating videos on r/OldSkaters. Because there probably aren’t many 57-year-olds doing heel flips.
Although Reddit’s Checkmark is in its alpha release stage, users can qualify if they are active contributors in good standing and are not designated by Reddit as a “trusted partner.” Checkmarking does not give the user any special privileges. However, if the user has an NSFW profile or is primarily part of the NSFW community, they are not eligible for the checkmark.
For now, Reddit manually verifies profiles, but plans to use a third-party process in the future.
It’s probably no coincidence that Reddit is considering verification at the same time its co-founder Alexis Ohanian begins relaunching social aggregator Digg. Digg’s founders are concerned that the internet is becoming overrun with bots and AI agents, and want Digg to be a place where people can connect with real people. They said they are considering the use of zero-knowledge proofs as a potential way to verify that a user is human.
Sam Altman, co-founder and CEO of OpenAI, is also exploring ways to verify people’s humanity online. Altman’s human verification project, World, plans to release an app this week that also focuses on eliminating bots.
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