Twitter Rival in India Tests Giving Users Power to Self-Verify

(Bloomberg) -- Koo, the microblogging and social networking app for Indian languages, is hoping to go one up on rival Twitter Inc. by allowing users to self-verify their profiles, as competition for millions of first-time users heats up.

A verified profile on social media such as Twitter and Instagram -- typically marked by a badge or tick next to the profile name -- gives the user credibility because it means the service has confirmed the authenticity of the person. A verification badge is typically used by celebrities and other influencers, and obtaining one can be difficult and take weeks or months.

Koo, backed by Tiger Global and Accel, said it has streamlined the process by allowing users to self-authenticate. Under the new process, users link their accounts to a unique biometric number from the Indian government's digital identity database, Aadhaar, which is similar to a U.S. Social Security number. They then activate the verification by sending a password to a mobile phone linked to that Aadhaar number. It typically takes just a few minutes.

“Microblogging sites' biggest bane is automated bots, fake accounts and anonymous trolling,” Aprameya Radhakrishna, Koo's co-founder and chief executive officer, said via Zoom. “This voluntary self-verification feature is toward making social media safer and more real.”

Koo, started in March 2020, has about 30 million users and the self-verification system will lend credibility to the content they share. India's social media is rife with fake accounts, toxic content and misinformation spreading on platforms like Twitter and WhatsApp.

Those self-verifying will have green ticks attached to their profiles. The Bangalore-based startup, formally known as Bombinate Technologies Pvt., has a separate yellow tick program for eminent users and cricketers, Bollywood stars and government ministers.

The app is available in 10 Indian languages and a dozen more are being added as more regional users go online. The app is also available in Nigeria, a testing ground for expansion abroad.

The green ticks will “democratize self-verification” and cut down the lengthy process, Radhakrishna said. They will improve the platform's authenticity over time and “advertisers will prefer a social network with real people, not bots,” he said.

Later this week, in another social media first, Koo plans to release its algorithms to the public. They will give insights into how Koo users get their feed, how it recommends who to follow and how it builds hashtag trends.