LinkedIn is joining the likes of their social media peers with a new verification badge.
The free system allows users to prove their identity and the jobs they’ve worked in the past and at present. The platform partnered with CLEAR to allow secure verification by your US government-issued ID and US phone number.
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Image: LinkedIn
“Identity is foundational to building trust online,” Caryn Seidman-Becker, CEO of CLEAR told ESSENCE. “CLEAR and LinkedIn are partnering to enhance trust on LinkedIn’s platform by offering users a free, simple way to protect themselves and others. Ensuring authentic digital interactions helps protect real people.”
Verified profiles will have a green and/or blue checks.
“Authenticity online has never been more important,” Alex Weinert, vice president of identity security at Microsoft, told The Verge about the rollout. “We’ve seen a steady uptick in fraudulent presentations with people pretending to be people they’re not in all kinds of different forms. You want to know really that if you interact with somebody who says they’re employed by a certain company or represent a certain company that you can trust who they say they are. The need for that is pretty clear.”
The announcement comes on the heels of the controversial verification shakeups at other social media companies, namely Twitter. Under its new leadership, a new paid program was introduced earlier in which users were able to pay for a blue check, a move that completely contrasts its usual verification process was relegated to high profile users. Earlier this week, Twitter stated that legacy verifications would be sunsetted if a monthly fee wasn’t paid by users.
LinkedIn says their program is free, for now.
“This is just the beginning,” says Joy Chik, president of identity and network access at Microsoft to The Verge. “Verified ID credentials can increase trust, authenticity, and verifiability while reducing cost, time, and friction in many scenarios.”