Since Elon Musk bought Twitter, there have been many rumours about the future of the “verified” mark on the social media platform. Previously, the blue tick mark on Twitter and other social media platforms was awarded to public figures, who had been accredited by their employer. Musk announced that he intended to change this model, instead awarding the verified status to anyone who paid the monthly subscription fee. Perhaps the largest social media site used by the business community is LinkedIn, and a recent announcement from the platform indicates that they intend to follow a very different path to Twitter.

Verify Your Identity at LinkedIn

The idea behind LinkedIn is to make connections with other people working in your industry or company, whether you know them personally or not. Many employers use LinkedIn to find out about people who have applied for jobs with them, or even recruit new workers through the social media site. Until now, there has been no verification of identities on LinkedIn, meaning that anyone can claim to work for whatever company they choose. LinkedIn has recently unveiled a new way of verifying employers, using a company email. 50 million LinkedIn users across the world will be able to confirm their employer by asking the social media site to send a verification code to their work email address. This is an easy way of confirming that a LinkedIn member works for a specific organisation, even though it may not confirm what position they hold within that company.

Selfie Verification

LinkedIn has also announced that it is working with another company which is an expert in biometric verification. This is similar to identity verification for job applications, and involves specialised software looking at the biometric features on a standard identity document such as a passport, with a selfie which you take with a web cam, or upload as a photograph. This is very similar to the facial recognition technology which smartphones use to open your phone or allow you to make payments. Comparing facial features to a passport should give confirmation that the person operating the LinkedIn account has access to the passport, but these checks cannot replace meeting someone face to face, or at least via video conferencing.

Recruitment Through LinkedIn

Job adverts are increasingly posted online, and users of LinkedIn can browse and apply for vacancies through the website. From an employer’s point of view, the new LinkedIn verified system should give a bit of reassurance that people are who they say they are. But any verification process can only go so far and should never be the only method which an organisation uses to check out the people applying for positions. All a LinkedIn verified mark can tell you is that the identity of the person is correct, and they currently work for the stated employer. Employers might still have to do work to check academic qualifications, work experience and do social media screening or credit checks. LinkedIn verification is a starting point, nothing more.