Twitter continues to ‘evolve’ in ways no one could have predicted. Then again, most of this change is bad. Nevertheless, they’re happening. Perhaps there’s an angle that we’re missing? Or it could be that we have not just accepted the fact that the Twitter of old is utterly gone. The latest that we have from Twitter is that Musk and his team are supposedly making SMS two-factor authentication an exclusive Twitter Blue feature, starting next month.
As per Twitter:
“While historically a popular form of 2FA, unfortunately, we have seen phone-number-based 2FA be used – and abused – by bad actors. So starting today, we will no longer allow accounts to enroll in the text message/SMS method of 2FA unless they are Twitter Blue subscribers. The availability of text message 2FA for Twitter Blue may vary by country and carrier.”
Please Authenticate
Simply put, Twitter is again twisting the situation and taking the most common form of authentication that safeguards your account from possible hacking and theft, and turning it into a Twitter Blue-only option that’s hidden behind an $8-a-month paywall. So, no more secondary account protection? In its place, you’ll instead have an authentication app or security key, both of which are less convenient, but Twitter seems to believe that bad actors are too easily able to abuse the current process. Twitter decided to cut these people off, along with millions of others who aren’t misusing it.
It sounds like a pathway to more account hacks and additional issues with people losing access, which, overall, doesn’t seem to be a great direction for Twitter’s growth plans. Another consideration is that maybe this will push more people to pay for Twitter Blue, bringing in even more revenue for Twitter.
Again, Twitter Blue, for Twitter, is ostensibly a form of verification. Twitter seems to believe that if it can force more people to pay, that will make it more of a security element, helping weed out bots who won’t pay the monthly fee. Overall, it looks like a rather short-sighted approach, which will likely do more harm than good. Anyone who controls a brand handle will now have to consider alternative security options. Anyone who values their Twitter account will likely need to rethink their approach.
Will this get more people signing up for Blue? Maybe. While it doesn’t really add to the ‘charm’ of Twitter Blue’s other offers, perhaps 2FA is an important enough element on its own to push some users to subscribe. If they can afford it.
The Wrap
Twitter’s biggest user share is based in the US, while it also has several millions of users in India (24m), Brazil (19m), and Indonesia (19m). The big question is if they can afford Twitter’s monthly fee/s. Elon Musk says that the change is a cost-saving measure, with SMS messages for verification costing Twitter $60 million per year. Musk says that other 2FA methods are also more secure.
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