In a series of moves seemingly geared to make the site more attractive to celebrities, Facebook is rolling out “Verified” accounts, granting the status to its most popular users who prove their identities to the site’s high command. The chosen ones will then be allowed to buck Facebook tradition by using aliases — for instance, stage names — on their timelines.

As CNN reports, the change marks Facebook’s slight departure from its insistence that users stick with their real names. Verified accounts will get top billing on areas in which Facebook suggests accounts for users to subscribe to. The implementation of these higher-level accounts will presumably cut down on impersonators and make it easier to distinguish fan sites from the genuine article.

Common folk, however, won’t be able to verify themselves or re-dub themselves with their LiveJournal handles, as they could in their MySpace days.

Facebook rolls out ‘verified accounts,’ celeb nicknames [CNN]

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