In order to increase revenue and reduce costs, Twitter can be said to be racking their brains. Now their latest policy is released. If you have not paid for Twitter Blue qualifications, you cannot use the SMS two-step verification security mechanism.
Two-step authentication (2 Factor Authentication, 2FA) is currently the most effective account security protection mechanism in addition to high-strength passwords. When a user logs in to an account, in addition to entering the password, the system will also require an additional verification code to ensure that it is you. Three channels are currently used: SMS, email, or a third-party authenticator.
Twitter announced this week that by March 20, if you haven’t paid for Twitter Blue ($8 for Android, $11 for iOS), you won’t be able to use SMS 2FA anymore.
Interestingly, according to the data released by Twitter at the end of 2021, only 2.6% of users have enabled 2FA, and 74% of them choose SMS authentication. Using this method to protect their accounts does not seem to be what most Twitter users care about.
Since there are not many users who do this, what is the real purpose of Twitter now introducing this policy? Maybe, just want to save the cost of sending text messages, after all, Twitter has a staggering number of users, and the cost of accumulating sand is also considerable.
But from another perspective, it seems reasonable to assume that Twitter is paving the way to eliminate bots and fake accounts. Perhaps at some point in the future, Twitter will force users to use 2FA to log in, and general accounts must go through a third-party authenticator, which is a big trouble for those “revenue accounts”.
Although there are not many people who have this need, if you have not used any authenticator, there are many kinds on the market. Please do not download authenticators from unknown sources to avoid anti-theft. It is recommended to use Google authenticator. Or Twillo Authy, which are used by more people, to ensure safety.
If you want to pay to get the blue tick in order to continue using SMS 2FA, that’s a workaround too, if you insist.
(First image source: Twitter)
