Facebook is using SMS and texting to try and make logging in more secure.
On its blog, the world’s largest social network said:
Simply text “otp” to 32665 on your mobile phone, and you’ll immediately receive a password that can be used only once and expires in 20 minutes. In order to access this feature, you’ll need a mobile phone number in your account. We’re rolling this out gradually, and it should be available to everyone in the coming weeks.
This could be a neat way to keep your Facebook secure if you’ve forgotten to log out on a public computer. It’s a small thing but a useful way for Facebook to utilize the mobile space.
This isn’t the first time the company has used mobile phones to bolster privacy and security, as the social network has extended its privacy controls to your phone. This brings all of your privacy settings to the palm of your hand in a format which looks good for mobile.
Facebook has huge ambitions in the mobile space and it already has more than 150 million users. It recently made it possible to start, manage and control their social network accounts all from a mobile phone. This may not be appealing to many in the United States or Europe but this could lead to massive growth in emerging markets like India and China.
I also think that Facebook Places will be a major player in the location-based space. While it doesn’t do anything that Foursquare or Gowalla can, it does have the critical mass and the mainstream appeal to bring it to the forefront.
If you’re a business owner, you’ll soon have to manage your Facebook Places account to help promote your business and maybe incentive new and returning customers. Just think about how many movie trailers now direct viewers to its page on the social network.
[Via Facebook and TechCrunch, photo]
