Twitter's Blue Tick To Be Available To All

Those who wish to apply for a tick will still have to meet some criteria

Twitter's blue tick badge is to be made available to all users to "help people find great, high quality accounts to follow", the social network says.

The ticks are usually reserved for public figures but now an application form is available online for everyone.

An applicant will still have to supply various pieces of information and prove that their account "is of public interest" or that they have "newsworthiness or relevancy in their field".

They have to supply a verified phone number, email address, website and be tweeting publicly.

In a blog post announcing the new system, Twitter's Tina Bhatnagar said: "Our goal with this update is to help more people find great, high-quality accounts to follow, and for creators and influencers - no matter where they are in the
world - to easily connect with a broader audience."

Twitter has around 320 million monthly users, of which around 187,000 are currently verified.