- You will have seen that many things have changed on Twitter recently. And the DMs are not saved
- It is now possible to only receive direct messages from those who have verified their account or profile
- Why did Elon Musk make this decision and what changes when it comes to sending messages to others?
As long as you keep an eye on the news, or even just use the platform occasionally, you’ll have seen that a lot has changed on Twitter recently. The use of this microblogging tool goes through confusing times and, if you have had problems communicating internally with someone on this social network, this is the new way of sending messages on Twitter that Elon Musk proposes with his developers.
And we believe that it is important to dedicate an article to this because we think that there are many more users resorting to Twitter DMs or MDs than most could imagine. That is why the constant complaints expressed both on the social network’s own timeline and on those offered as alternative options, for example Threads.
The problem is that Twitter is changing several of its functions under the direction of one of the richest but also most controversial men in the world. Now they surprised a function of private / internal messages that has little to do with what we used to take advantage of. Getting used to it will take us some time..
With all that said, if you want to know more about the new rules and features of Twitter DMs, go ahead!
This is the new private / internal messages of Twitter
Last Friday, and without prior notice as usual, Twitter began to implement a new function for direct messaging on the platform. Twitter users previously had two options and they could enable messages from any user on the network or only from the people they followed. Basically, in that case, the DM button would only be visible to the users that were being followed by the other.
However, users now have the ability to select to only receive direct messages from those who have verified their Twitter accounts and from users they follow. It’s funny, because that seemed to make sense precisely with the usual format of the network, in which verified users were really celebrities. Considering that now you have to pay for verification, it seems that not many will be interested.
What is Musk’s goal then? We could infer that he wants some to pay $8 a month to get on new private/internal message lists of others. Nevertheless, it’s still unlikely that someone will agree to be sent direct messages by an anonymous stranger because they pay for their verification.
When sending direct messages on Twitter: has something changed?
In other words, others could send you messages through Twitter DMs if you specifically agreed to receive messages from verified users -those that the platform itself understood as safe users-. Unfortunately now, with these modifications, we are more exposed to SPAM and harassment.
Beyond that, sending a private/internal message continues as before, albeit at the risk of being rejected.
You have to go to the Messages section of both the app and the Twitter website, write the name of the user you want to contact, write the message and send it to them. With any luck, your Settings will allow you to receive it.
On the other hand, the Frequently Asked Questions page regarding Twitter direct messages has been retouched. They explain there that we can go back to the previous Message Configuration, but we must be aware that this is possibly an exception and that, in the medium or long term, we are obliged to adopt the new format.
As you can see in the screenshot above, in your Message Settings you can check these items:
- Allow message requests from verified users
- Allow messages from people you follow
- Allow message requests from everyone
Then, you can indicate if you want to show read receipts when the other user has read your messages. Remember that, if you activate it, others will also know when you have read theirs. Analyze it carefully.
Do you like this new way of sending messages on Twitter? What do you think of Elon Musk’s intervention?
