Facebook's Verified Pages: You Have One New Notification

Sarah Herbert | @herbyfulyloaded

Yesterday, Facebook announced their new “verified Pages” to help people like me (obsessed with Ryan Gosling) find authentic accounts, and not impersonators or fan pages. So when you’ve finally stumbled upon your favorite celebrity or other high-profile person, the small, blue check mark beside their name on their timeline will let you know that it’s for real.

But what’s to stop you from verifying yourself as the real Justin Bieber? Facebook has also uncovered the solution to this potential loophole, as the company itself will be the one to verify pages and profiles. So to all of my undercover fans, (I’m sure you guys are out there somewhere) I do apologize that Facebook will be revoking your ability to “be” me on the internet.

Facebook is by far the most successful social media platform we have today. Businesses, government officials, celebrities, journalists, popular brands, and other high-profile people rely on Facebook to spread messages, start conversations with customers, and develop a professional, relatable online personality. Verified Pages will only strengthen the legitimacy of these personalities, add security to these interactions, and boost consumer confidence in their conversations with businesses and celebrities. And if you’re still not convinced, minimizing impersonations and false profiles on Facebook will reduce scattered web traffic, and will direct potential fans or consumers to the right page.

I’m sure you’re thinking there’s got to be a downside to all this verification, and I’ve been mulling over this for a few hours now. Seriously though, the only thing I can think of is that it will take the fun (and stress) out of endlessly searching for the “real” Selena Gomez or the official Diet Coke page, not just some crazy soft-drink lover. Well done, Facebook. Looks like I’ll finally get to stalk the real Ryan Gosling.