Twitter and Facebook Are Taxing You More

Here's how to keep their hands from reaching more of your money.

When you are slimming down on social media junk food, these two behemoths insist on reaching further into your wallet.

They want to milk you further. Strange enough, it's working for them - taxing you more.

Daily, you're flooded with a deluge of social media superfluity. There is no end in sight. The crowd of influencers and multiplying uninfluencers want to occupy your online time more. But too much of a good thing can kill. The same applies to all the social media we can't live without.

The trio of Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram are reaching further into your pockets. They want steady access to more of your money or else …

If you're already famous or aspiring to more fame, Twitter has got you covered. Twitter Blue Seal is custom-made for you. Not to be outdone, Facebook has their own packages coming; you must now pay for their pro offering to be eligible to receive 2FA codes via your phone text message service — SMS.

In our climate of overabundance social media, the level of engagement has been falling across the major platforms. Twitter and Facebook's solutions to reversing their dwindling fortunes are,

• First: Twitter Blue Seal. From free to paid.
• Next: Two Factor Authentication (2FA). (Now a premium add-on.)

In quick succession, the Zuck started mirroring the Musk. Users must now pay for a most basic service that ensures greater security on these platforms.

With 2FA, the likelihood of your account being hijacked by hackers is further reduced. When you need to log on to your account from a new device, you will need a second means of identification. Even though your password is correct, 2FA gives extra assurance to these app platforms (that the person logging in from a new device is the account's true owner.

With 2FA, your phone provides you with a second layer of identification. This shouldn't be a problem since your omnipresent companion — your phone- is always at hand.

Why you need 2FA and Twitter Blue Seal

Twitter Blue Seal insures you against impersonators. Impersonated accounts can wreak havoc on legitimate account owners. A case in point is Eli Lily's parodied Twitter account. A downtick to the pharmaceutical giant's stock price was the result.

How to get 2FA (No Text Message)

2FA won't get you the benefits of Twitter Blue seal. But you can still get an even more secured non-SMS-based 2FA implemented for more secure access to all or most of your critical apps.

1. Install an authenticator app like Authy, Microsoft Authenticator, or Google Authenticator, etc., on your phone. Unless an app specifically prefers a particular authenticator app, one of these should serve you well for all your apps.
2. While on the app for which you need 2FA, navigate to Settings. You will find 2FA setup in your app's Password / Privacy / Security section.
3. Find the 2FA tab. You may be required to enter your app's password or lock screen password to proceed.
4. The app will display a code and a QR image option. If you are using your phone, copy and paste this code into your authenticator app. A six or more digits code will be generated and sent to your phone via SMS text. Use this code to register your app in the authenticator app. Any other time you need to log on to this app on another advice, use the authenticator app to generate the code for that specific app.
5. If you are using your computer, the app you're registering to the authenticator app will create a QR image. Use the QR reader on your authenticator app to scan this image. The authenticator app will automatically register and store the login details for the app you're securing.

Remember, you will always need your phone (that has the authenticator app) every time you need to login to your account on a new device.

Also, your social media app will give you a list of 5 or 10 codes you can always use to log on to your account in place of the authenticator-generated code.

Copy and save these numbers in a secure place. You don't need a physical notebook to do this unless you really want to. In my case, I copied these numbers and saved them into my old faithful "manual" password manager (SafeInCloud app), which is also accessible via the web.

These days, almost all apps worthy of their codes use 2FA. All my apps — email clients, Twitter, Linkedin, Mastodon, etc.- are secured with 2FA.

Final Word

2FA doesn't make your phone or app hacker-proof. But without it, your password is the only barrier between your invaluable data and an intruder.

Ultimately, no security is completely fool-proof. 2FA is a way of making it more difficult for digital marauders to steal your invaluable data.

Using authenticator apps-based 2FA helps you cut off your tethers to Twitter or Facebook SMS-based authentication. You save money too.

Thank you for reading.

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