Twitter expanded its ability to connect with users by unveiling new settings for direct messaging (DMing) – a user now has the ability to DM any one of Twitter’s 218 million plus users.
Previously, DMs were only able to be sent to anyone who follows a particular user. Now, as long as a user enables the new feature, they can be directly messaged.
Main competitor Facebook has featured the ability to message any user (as well as the “other” inbox for users who one is not friends with), so this seems like another battle in the war between the two social media giants.
The new settings did not come with grandiose fanfare, but instead were noticed by several users overnight. Not all users have the feature yet – to find out if you do, go to the “Settings” tab and under “Account,” you should be able to see a checkbox asking if you want to “receive direct messages from any follower.”
DMing a wider base of users can come into play for any company with a social media presence. Many consumers have some sort of customer service issue that they’ll announce on Twitter, with not much of an avenue to resolve their problem(s). DMing would allow the company to get into private contact with the user and establish more in-depth support without first exchanging follows with the user.
