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Have you’ve ever wondered if the Twitter user you’re following is genuine?

If you answered Yes, then today’s announcement from Twitter, and featured in Mashable, should help.

In a move that some may see as an attempt to avoid costly law suites; Twitter plans to introduce a new feature called Verified Accounts, which when operating will place an ‘account verified tick’ beside the user’s name.

Why do we need Verified Accounts?

For some time now it’s been possible for anyone to register an account on Twitter, without any requirement to be the person or organisation you’re claiming to be. Perhaps the best known UK example was the Twitter user who set-up @BBC and provided status updates in the form of a BBC news-feed. It was only when a reply appeared to a posting on the Gaza Relief campaign whose tone was at odds with that expected from the BBC that the true ownership came out. While the Tweeter who set-up the BBC account did not abuse their position, the potential to create a major incident was present. Needless to say, not all fake accounts are used sympathetically.

Fake Accounts

For those unfamiliar with Twitter, or for that matter any social web site; it is incredibly easy to create fake accounts. All you need do is register a name that is the same as or looks similar to the person or organisation you want to impersonate, then populate this account with graphics and content borrow from online sources. Posting updates with current news, images, etc. also borrowed from online sources maintains the appearance of authenticity.  If you’re effective in doing this you can build a following of users who believe you to be the genuine article. At this point you can enjoy a few minutes of fame, until you’re discovered and the account closed, by offering items, exclusives or dis-information that has a commercial or disruptive value.

So what are Verified Accounts?

First off, Twitter is not suggesting users will have to verify who they are when creating an account; by e.g. using a valid email address for the person or organisation represented. This progress is too difficult and would create a major administration overhead as many official accounts are in fact managed by external agents.

Instead Twitter are planning to offer “Verification” by checking that feeds from these accounts appear on an official website, I.e. on a site that is owned and operated by the person or organisation represented by the Twitter account.

It is assumed this verification process will be carried out manually and will probably required the user to pay. But when your brand and reputation are at stake this will be a small price to pay for peace of mind; and will cost a lot less than employing the team of watchers and lawyers needed to get all the fake accounts shut down.

Verified Accounts are Good News

This move is also good news for several groups, including:

• Brand, Celebrities and Corporations who gain greater protection for their online identities
• PR people who operate these accounts, as they will have greater say in what is Tweeted
• Web developers who can now offer clients a Twitter integration service
• Twitter as this move is likely to generate an income and exposes Twitter feeds to a much larger audience of web users, many of who may not use Twitter, but never-the-less browse these high profile, high traffic websites

What may have been started as an attempt to avoid costly legal action, is in-fact good news for many; or am I just being cynical.

You may not have heard of Twitter, but you will. It is the latest social media craze and has many attractions for both personal and business users; not least the fact that it’s year-on-year growth is around 1000% (according to Nielsen Online).

What is Twitter?

Twitter is a free social networking and micro-blogging service that enables its users (Tweeters) to send and read updates (Tweets), 140 characters at a time.

According to Twitter, “It is a service for friends, family and co–workers to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent answers to one simple question: What are you doing?“.

Users send and receive tweets via the Twitter website, Short Message Service (SMS), or applications such as Tweetie, Twitterrific and TweetDeck. These updates are available via the Tweeters profile, or delivered to ‘followers’ life-feeds.

What’s in it for Business?

While Twitter is still in the early stages and has relied on others to add functionality some common uses include:

• Establishing new contacts (using ‘following’)
• Building your network (of ‘followers’)
• Engaging with your community (by ‘replying to’ posts)
• Discovering Trends (using the search, #tags and analysis tools)

How do I use Twitter?

Getting started on Twitter is free and takes minutes. It begins with:

• Sign-up (The biggest challenge is choosing your Twitter name)
• Skip the next two screens (unless you have a Webmail account with Google, Yahoo, etc. or want to follow Twitters ’suggested’ Tweeters, I recommend skipping the next two screens)
• Personalise (by adding you own profile picture, your location, a brief bio and a suitable background image)
• Follow (find your contacts and local Tweeters using the email tools and Find People search. Also check the followers of people you know and build your network)
• Search (for Tweets on your subject, view the profile of the Tweeters who posted the items and follow them)

So once you’re set-up, how will you use Twitter?

Here are a few suggestions:

• Have conversations (Twitter is conversation tool, you post an update and people reply)
• Search on your company, brand and products (find people who are talking about stuff you’re interested in and follow them)
• Engage with people who are talking about the stuff you’re interested in
• Build positive relationships
• List your Favorites
• Publish helpful content (this builds your followers)
• Use #hashtags to promote products, events, etc.
• Take your Twitter relationships offline via Tweetups

Extracting Value

Twitter is perhaps the best example so far of a real time public news service. In fact it’s not uncommon for news to break first on Twitter, then be picked up by the Media. esp. where this involves some disaster, shooting or scandal.

Tracking the frequency of keywords gives Twitter watchers a real time view of what’s happening. If these updates relate to your company or products you have a measure of the ‘buzz’ that effects you.

These are some ways Twitter can help your business:

• Your Followers provides a measure of your reach (both quality and quantity are important)
• Grading your followers shows their influence and the stage of your relationship
• Using @Replies shows your level of engagement (the higher the better)
• Monitor inbound Traffic from Twitter to your website (is anyone listening?)
• Monitor sales linked to Twitter traffic (is it working?)

To make the most of Twitter you’ll need to use a few Tools & Resources. While this list is growing, these should get you started:

• Tracking the Buzz (TweetingTrends, Twist, Monitter, and TwitScoop)
• Tiny URLs (allow you to shorten the URL and fit the 140 character limit. E.g. bit.ly, is.gd, ow.ly, tinyurl.com)
• Twitter Feed (RSS feeds to / from Twitter)
• #Tags (used to index updates when keywords are not enough)
• Twitter APIs (Dan @Zambonini at BoxUK has produced a great Twitter API list)

Through using Twitter to engage with industry leaders and customers alike, and by tracking and analyzing Twitter activity companies gain valuable insight into the issues that are important today. How you use these contacts and insights is up to you.