"I can say I'm John Travolta...but I'm not John Travolta": Investigating the Impact of Changes to Social Media Verification Policies on User Perceptions of Verified Accounts

Until recently, almost all social media platforms verified the identities behind notable accounts. Prior work showed users understood this process. However, Twitter/X's switch to an open, less rigorous verification process represented a significant policy shift. We conduct a U.S. Census-representative survey to investigate how this and subsequent verification changes across social media impact users' verification perceptions. We find most users generally recognize the changes to Twitter/X's policy, though many still believe Twitter/X verifies account holders' true identities. However, users are less aware of subsequent Facebook verification changes. We also find platforms' verification differences do not impact user perceptions of posted content credibility.

Finally, we investigate hypothetical verification policies. We find participants are more likely to perceive posts from verified accounts as credible when only notable accounts are eligible and government document review is required. Payment did not affect credibility decisions, but participants felt strongly that payment for verification was unacceptable.