Twilio is one of our favorite integration platforms for working with SMS. We've used it to help with patients seeking online prescriptions, in SMS marketing projects, and account verification. We've even used it to register a primary phone number for projects, configured with routing and rules for answering calls and texts. Unfortunately, Twilio numbers have not worked to verify valid social media accounts.

Instagram and Facebook rightfully have restrictions in place to verity identity and check for robots when logging into accounts. Occasionally, that requires getting a one-time-password (OTP) via a text message. That's posed a problem for the accounts we've setup with Twilio.

After trying to login to three valid business accounts using different Twilio numbers, none of the accounts ever received a OTP of any form. The logins were tested across a span of multiple days with various formats of the number. In the end, we had to login using a personal cell phone number instead, which is assuredly linked to various other data within the Facebook/Instagram database.

Presumably, Twilio phone numbers are blacklisted by Facebook/Instragram. It'd be great if there were an ability to verify accounts in a similar method to blue check marks on Twitter. In both cases, it costs almost nothing ($1/month for a Twilio number, free for Twitter) and a verification process would serve a similar purpose.