Twitter launched the first phase of its Verified Accounts program moments ago, meaning that celebrities, musicians, athletes, actors, public officials and public agencies on the service can now display a "verified account" button on their Twitter pages.

For instance, visiting Twitter.com/mashable, you'll see that I am indeed the real Pete Cashmore. Likewise, Twitter celebrities like Ashton Kutcher and Oprah now carry the button. Those wishing to apply for verified status can visit the verified accounts help page, which explains:

With this feature, you can easily see which accounts we know are 'real' and authentic. That means we've been in contact with the person or entity the account is representing and verified that it is approved. (This does not mean we have verified who, exactly, is writing the tweets.) This also does not mean that accounts without the 'Verified Account' badge are fake. The vast majority of accounts on the system are not impersonators, and we don't have the ability to check 100% of them. For now, we've only verified a handful of accounts to help with cases of mistaken identity or impersonation.

The feature has been a long time coming, and many celebrities will jump on the opportunity to prove their legitimacy. It'll also solve the entrenched problem of celebrity impersonations, which are confusing for users and unwelcome by those being impersonated. Businesses, however, will have to wait: the feature has not been rolled out to corporate entities yet.

Who is Verified on Twitter? Let Us Know

Who is verified and who is not, you ask? At first glance it would appear that only celebrities and those with large followings are included - please do post the names of verified users in the comments and we'll compile a collaborative list.