Bluesky, the rapidly growing social networking startup, has announced a radical departure from traditional social media platforms in its approach to user account verification. In a livestream on Monday, the company revealed its vision for a decentralized verification system, where multiple providers co-exist, marking a significant shift away from the paid models adopted by Twitter and Meta.

Currently, the only way to verify an account on Bluesky is through a manual process, which the company began last year. This approach has allowed Bluesky to tackle impersonation issues directly as they arise. However, the company believes that custom domains may only be part of the solution going forward, and is considering a model where multiple verification providers co-exist.

According to Bluesky CEO Jay Graber, the company could become a verification provider, but it would not have singular control over who gets verified. Instead, users could choose to trust Bluesky's verification or opt for other services. This approach would allow anyone to verify others according to their own rules and policies, similar to how Bluesky currently lets users build their own feeds, moderation systems, and algorithms.

The implications of this decentralized approach are far-reaching. For instance, a university could verify users as alums, or a fan group like the Swifties could verify people as community members. These verification providers could choose to be selective in terms of who gets verified, or they could offer more comprehensive services, where verification across a range of different affiliations is part of their offerings.

The challenge, as Graber noted, lies in presenting multiple verifications to the end user in a way that isn't confusing. The company needs to figure out how these verifications would appear – possibly as badges – and whether other third-party Bluesky apps would need to display them in the same way as the company's official client.

This approach marks a significant departure from traditional social media platforms, which have shifted towards pay-for-verification models. Twitter, under new owner Elon Musk, attempted to overhaul its verification system to make it more democratic, but this move was met with chaos as users bought verification checks to impersonate others on the platform. Meanwhile, Meta has followed Twitter's lead with paid verification, primarily serving creators and businesses on its platform.

Bluesky's decentralized approach is part of its broader vision to build infrastructure that allows anyone to verify others according to their own rules and policies. The company is also exploring other long-term plans, such as designing profiles to connect users to their broader web presence, including their personal website and other social accounts.

The timing of these developments is noteworthy, as Bluesky has experienced a significant growth spike since the U.S. presidential elections and other policy changes on Musk's X. Since the election, Bluesky has added 8.7 million new users, bringing its total user base to 22.7 million. This growth has prompted Meta's X competitor Threads to scramble to counter the threat with its own set of Bluesky-like features.

While Bluesky's team has discussed its long-term plans, the company cannot yet commit to rolling out specific features or a timeline, given its rapid growth. As the company continues to evolve, it will be interesting to see how its decentralized approach to verification shapes the future of social media.