How to protect your brand amid Twitter’s verification nightmare

Of all the recent Twitter changes, problems and chaos, perhaps the worst for brands arrived Wednesday. Blue checks, once a sign that an account was the real deal, were rolled out to anyone willing to pay $8. Predictably to anyone who has ever been on the internet, plenty of people found this a small price to pay to sow some chaos.

Within hours, fake but credible-looking accounts were impersonating journalists dropping scoops, athletes retiring and brand mascots making lewd gestures. By the time these are removed, usually hours later, they may have racked up tens of thousands of retweets.

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