Meet John Colucci, the social media guy for Engadget. He's really happy because they've just broken a million Twitter followers.
William Shatner randomly gets tagged into the celebrations by another social media person.
But Shatner isn't happy for John. No. Shatner wants to talk about John's little blue tick.
And Twitter doesn't like it.
Although this is a very valid point.
(Reminder: his version of Rocket Man is also amazing).
This is now beginning to escalate.
...and escalate.
The original tweeter has now been told by the Captain of the USS Enterprise that he's on a "power trip", which seems a bit harsh.
Now a whole bunch of other tech types are diving in.
But Shatner is concerned about verification, and the thorny issue of whether people are who they say they are.
Here he is musing more on the capricious nature of the blue tick and how it's awarded to a lucky few.
Nicely done.
Basic rule of life: when a celebrity uses the word "nobodies", it never goes down well.
Meanwhile, Shatner continues to muse on why some people actually need verificiation.
And we're done.
Actually we're not. Shatner has given an interview to Mashable on the subject. He expounds at great length on the subject and it's advised you click through to see his thoughts, but the salient line is: "If a person is someone that the public listens to (news anchor, reporter, major blogger, author, etc.) then they should have a verified account to prevent an impostor. Someone who works behind the scenes, assists folks in the public eye, etc… I don’t think Twitter had them in mind for verification."
He also flags up this exchange and says: "So here we have an editor at a tech magazine who just acknowledged my worst Twitter fears — people who have the power to verify are verifying as a reward not as a necessity. Plus, this guy’s job is to hassle me?"