For online influencers getting verification - a blue tick next to their social media account name - is the ultimate prize. It brings credibility and elevates their status online.

Presenter David Harper investigates how accounts can become 'verified', what it means, and if you make your money through online platform, how much is it actually worth?

David speaks to Matt Navarra, a social media consultant and industry analyst. Matt has worked for Meta and Google amongst others and says he asked how to get a blue tick dozens of times each week. He explains why verification is useful to brands and users.

Entrepreneur Jacques Bastien lives in New York, he works with different brands and companies, and explains why verification is so important for his clients, making them seem more trustworthy. He says the blue tick has a financial benefit which is hard to quantify, but is there.

And the BBC’s China media analyst Kerry Allen explains the different approach by Sina Weibo, where accounts are checked and ‘verified’ to a certain degree when an account is created. She explains the different ‘V’ system that accounts have depending on who owns the account.

Presented and produced by David Harper.

(Image: Social media influencer. Credit: Getty)