Meta rolls out the ability to let users verify their Threads profile on other social media platforms, like Mastodon, using “rel=me” links
To be clear, this isn't a free way to get a blue checkmark next to your Threads name; you'll probably need to pay Meta to get one of those.
The VergeJay Peters
Context & Ripple Effects
Threads is being built alongside Meta’s separate paid-verification product: Meta Verified launched in the US with a badge, impersonation protection, and support. This feature instead lets people demonstrate that profiles they control on different services are connected.
The distinction matters because an external profile link can establish account ownership without conferring Meta’s paid status signal. Later, Meta also made Threads accounts independently removable from Instagram through separate Threads-profile deletion, another step toward giving the service a more distinct account identity.
First-order effects
Threads users who also control Mastodon accounts can publicly connect those identities using rel=me links, giving audiences an ownership signal across the two services.
Meta preserves the commercial distinction between external identity verification and the paid Meta Verified badge; linking profiles does not grant the badge.
Second-order effects
Mastodon users and communities gain a lower-friction way to establish continuity when participating on Threads, while other social platforms face pressure to support comparable account-linking signals if users expect portable identity.
Creators and organizations can use external profile proof as a supplement to paid verification, potentially reducing the badge’s role as the sole visible trust mechanism even as Meta retains its premium benefits.
Third-order effects
If platforms adopt common profile-linking conventions, identity proof can become more portable across social networks rather than remaining entirely controlled by each platform’s badge system.
The likely long-term model is layered trust: open, user-controlled evidence of account ownership alongside platform-run, paid services for support and anti-impersonation protections.
The trend: Social platforms are separating portable proof of account ownership from proprietary, monetized verification programs.
We've also rolled out Threads support for rel=me links to help you verify your identity on platforms like Mastodon. You can now add your Threads profile link on supported platforms to verify your...
Here was my post on Mastodon responding to this, and it is getting warmly received there! Props to @0xjessel and team for taking this first key step. And respect to them all for listening... a small but disproportionately important first integration!
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Hmmm... curious. None of those features interest me and two of them have simple workarounds. As a product guy, I think I would have held off an announcement for something more meaty, something that's...