Elon Musk's new monetization plan from Twitter has been revealed: Text messages...
Elon Musk has found a new way to make money: You will now have to pay for Twitter's two-factor authentication via text message.
Twitter users who protect their accounts using text messaging will lose this extra layer of security after March 20 unless they change their two-factor authentication method or pay for the platform's subscription service Blue.
In other words, the two-factor verification system by text message will now be exclusive to Blue subscribers only.
Two-factor authentication allows people to protect their accounts even if someone has stolen their password.
Twitter users who activate this security process can log in to their accounts after entering their passwords and a code they receive via text message or an authentication application. They can also use a security key.
The company said in a blog post that it no longer "allows accounts other than Twitter blue tick subscribers to sign up for text messaging." The firm also tweeted, "To be clear, two-factor authentication is still not required to log into Twitter, but we encourage users to enable it.
This change only restricts the available 2FA methods for accounts that are not subscribed to Twitter Blue." Those who subscribe to Twitter Blue, the subscription service of the platform, are paid 8 dollars per month, and 11 dollars per month when subscribed via mobile device.
Twitter's announcement comes hours after Platformer's Zoë Schiffer tweeted that the social network plans to make this change.
This is another example of how Twitter is trying to persuade more users to subscribe to Twitter Blue, as advertisers cut back on spending after billionaire Elon Musk took over the company for $44 billion last year.
The Information reported earlier this month that Twitter has around 180,000 subscribers in the US, meaning the service isn't very popular with platform users. The company tried to get more people to subscribe by offering longer tweets and other features with a blue checkmark.
The company also said that Twitter users who disable text message 2FA will not have their phone numbers automatically associated with their accounts, but they can update their numbers from their account settings.
