Social apps now ship powerful safety controls, but they're buried four menus deep. Every checkbox below is worth the 90 seconds it takes to find — together they cut spam, scam contact requests and accidental data leaks significantly.
Two-step verification, the easy way
Turn it on once per app. It blocks the most common account-takeover attack: a stolen SMS code.
- WhatsApp → Settings → Account → Two-step verification
- Instagram → Settings → Security → Two-factor authentication
- X → Settings → Security → Two-factor authentication
Who can contact you
Lock down message requests so strangers can't slide into your DMs uninvited. The 60-second fix per app stops most spam at the source.
What you accidentally share via metadata
Disable precise location in story uploads, and turn off auto-tagging in shared photos. Both leak more than people realise.