San Francisco, Jul 20 (IANS): Micro-blogging website Twitter has created an online application process for Twitter accounts to receive verified status which allows people to identify key individuals and organisations on Twitter as authentic and are denoted by a blue badge icon.

The verification badge is a little blue symbol with a white checkmark. An account may be verified if it is determined to be of public interest.

Typically this includes accounts maintained by public figures and organisations in music, TV, film, fashion, government, politics, religion, journalism, media, sports, business, and other key interest areas.

"We want to make it even easier for people to find creators and influencers on Twitter so it makes sense for us to let people apply for verification," said Tina Bhatnagar, Twitter's vice president of User Services, in a statement on Wednesday.

The company will let users request a verified account on its website by filling out a form with a verified phone number and email address, a profile photo and additional information regarding why verification is required or helpful.

"We hope opening up this application process results in more people finding great, high-quality accounts to follow, and for these creators and influencers to connect with a broader audience," she added.

Twitter was the first platform to introduce account verification, starting in 2009 and currently has close to 187,000 verified accounts from its 310 million monthly users.

The @CDCgov was one of the first Twitter accounts to be verified in order to help citizens find authentic and accurate public health information straight from the source.

Among the other first accounts to be verified include @NASAArmstrong, @KimKardashian, @Oprah, @MilwaukeePolice, @SF311, and @TonyHawk.

The application process will be available globally this week.