Twitter adds age verification for 'adult' brands

Users of micro-blogging service Twitter may now have to enter their date of birth before they can follow "adult" brands. Buddy Media, which partnered with Twitter for the verification, said this will be useful for marketers who have to deal with age-related requirements. "We created this solution, which we are unveiling today, as a free service for marketers. It will be useful for alcohol brands and marketers from other industries with age-related requirements who are interested in marketing on Twitter," said Buddy Media CEO Michael Lazerow in a blog post. Lazerow said they beta-tested the service with a select group of alcohol brands from several of the alcohol industry’s major holding companies. These included Brown Forman’s Jack Daniels (@JackHoney), Jim Beam’s Skinny Girl (@SkinnygirlCKTLS), and MillerCoors' Coors Light and Miller Lite (@CoorsLite and @MillerLite). "Now, we are formally launching this solution and making it available to any marketer," he said. Previously, he noted companies have had to develop their own custom, one-off “age-screening” solutions. He said the solution is also convenient for Twitter users since a user who has supplied his or her age through this process need not do so again if they want to follow other brands using this solution. He said companies that would like to use this feature can sign up at https://age.twitter.com/ to submit their brands for approval.   But a separate article on CNET said users can still take whatever liberties they like in entering their date of birth. It also noted a brand's tweets "remain public and viewable by anyone, regardless of age." — LBG, GMA News