Twitter is in chaos. Elon Musk, its new owner, has decimated its staff and this week has given those left behind an ultimatum – work grueling hours and be “extremely hardcore” or leave. Hundreds chose the latter and headed for the door.
There are already signs that the exodus is straining the system. Some users have noticed problems receiving text messages to sign in with two-step verification. Test pages appear in the wild. Some users are seeing a new barrage of spam in direct messages and on their feed, while others are complaining about receiving new replies to long-deleted tweets and seeing saved tweet drafts disappear. However, the bird site is moving forward.
Twitter won’t just be shut down overnight. But security experts warn that the drastic job cuts could open the door to bad actors exploiting platform vulnerabilities and compromising user accounts.
While there’s not much you can do about Musk’s on-the-fly takedown of one of the world’s leading online news ecosystems, there are measures to protect your account if you, like millions of others Twitter users, are not ready to flee the cooperative in search of an alternative.
ENABLE MULTI-STEP AUTHENTICATION
If you only use your username and password to log into Twitter, it’s important, especially now, to add an extra step to the process so that it becomes harder for hackers to gain access to your account.
Twitter offers three methods: an SMS, an authenticator application or a security key. Since there have been some issues with users not receiving text messages to authenticate their accounts, and because it is generally considered a more secure option, using the authenticator app is probably your best bet.
To do this, you will need to download one of the many apps available on your device. They are free from the Apple or Android app stores and some examples include Google or Microsoft Authenticator, Authy, Duo Mobile and 1Password.
Once you have the application, open the desktop version of Twitter and click on the icon representing ellipses in a circle. There you will find “Settings and privacy”, then “Security and account access” and finally “Security”. Here you can select “Authenticator app” and follow the instructions to set it up. Twitter will ask you to share your email address to do this, if you haven’t already.
Once you’re ready, you can use the automatically generated digital codes from your authenticator app to add an extra layer of security when logging into Twitter.
STOP THIRD PARTY ACCESS
Jane Manchun Wong, an independent software and security researcher in Hong Kong who follows Twitter closely, recommends revoking permissions to third-party sites and apps through your Twitter account.
Indeed, if there is a potential security issue with the Twitter API (or Application Programming Interface, which allows third parties to access Twitter data to create applications that work with Twitter, for example) with fewer people working in the company, fixing it will inevitably take longer.
To disable this feature, boot into the “Account Security & Access” tool and navigate to “Applications & Sessions”. Here you should find all third-party apps that are connected to your Twitter account – including some you might have linked years ago that no longer exist – and you can revoke access to each.
DOWNLOAD YOUR ARCHIVE
For the nostalgic, researcher, or digital hoarders among us, the thought of wasting a decade or more of our tweeting history is a disaster. Have no fear, however. This may take a while, but you can download your Twitter “archive” if you want to make sure it’s preserved – just in case.
As with other more complex features, this tool is only available on the desktop version of Twitter, in the “Your account” section of the settings. You’ll need to re-enter your password and go through two-factor authentication if you’ve set it up. When your archive is ready to be uploaded, you will receive a notification on Twitter. Again, you will need to upload it to the desktop version of the site. While this process normally takes around 24 hours, it may take longer now. Some users also reported having to try more than once.
KEEP YOUR FOLLOWERS LIST
Although there is no perfect replacement for Twitter – and of course Twitter is still around! – many users, especially those in journalism, technology, and academia, sign up for Mastodon, a previously little-known platform that launched in 2016. Mastodon is a decentralized social network. This means that it is not owned by a single company or a billionaire. Rather, it is made up of a network of servers, each operating independently but able to connect so that people on different servers can communicate. Connecting can be tricky – you’ll have to choose a “server” to join, but whichever you choose, you can still communicate with people on other servers, much like how you can send e- mails from your Gmail account even if they are on Outlook or another mail server.
Once you are there, you can go to fedifinder.glitch.me and find your Twitter account or any Twitter list you may have to see if they have Mastodon accounts as well. Many Twitter users also list other social media and content information in their bios or even Twitter display names so people can get in touch with them – just in case.
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