Facebook is taking a page out of Twitter's book, as it has announced the launch of verified pages and profiles for prominent public figures, such as celebrities, journalists, government officials, and popular brands. Facebook says that accounts with large followings will get verified status, but it did not say how it would go about actually verifying them.

As with Twitter's verified accounts, pages and profiles on Facebook that have been given verified status will feature a blue check mark next to their names, which will be visible throughout the site. Facebook is a bit behind other social networks in implementing verified accounts — in addition to Twitter, Google+ has verified prominent accounts for some time already. Now it's just a matter of time before your Facebook Timeline is filled with people begging for the special blue check mark next to their names.