Back to square one: Twitter no longer allows all followers to send you a DM

Twitter has pulled out the ability to send a Direct Message to anyone from the service. The micro-blogging website had quietly added the feature, allowing

Nishtha Kanal|Nov 20, 2013, 15:50:39 IST

Twitter has pulled out the ability to send a Direct Message to anyone from the service. The micro-blogging website had quietly added the feature, allowing users to receive Direct Messages from any of their followers without the need for a mutual-follow, but the ability has now been taken off.

The Next Web first noted that that the checkbox, which appeared in settings and asked you whether you wanted any follower to be able to send you a Direct Message, had disappeared. Essentially, we’re back to the time where both users have to follow each other to be able to send each other DMs. You may get an app for your DM

Maybe not

When asked, Twitter simply pointed Mathew Ingram on the micro-blogging website to a blog post in September. Taking a slightly easy way out, Twitter is hinting at the fact that it is constantly experimenting by adding and removing features on the website as well as its applications in order to “make it even easier to follow what you care about, connect with people and discover something new on Twitter.”

More from News Analysis

The tweaking of DMs draws attention to the fact that the micro-blogging website has its eyes trained on the feature. Not too long ago, rumours were doing the rounds that Twitter is planning to revamp the messaging feature all together. Essentially, we could be looking at a standalone Direct Messaging application, quite similar to how Messenger is now a sister application for Facebook on mobiles. It will be cool to see how Twitter, if at all, adds zing to the DM feature. Maybe we can see the partial-follow DM ability make a comeback then.

By Nishtha Kanal

Intrigued by all things social, Nishtha will invariably tweet about you. When not tweeting or writing about the next viral video, you will hear her proclaiming her love to Metallica, James Hetfield, Opeth, Akerfeldt and all bands that go 'growl'. She also obsesses about ACP Pradyuman and South Park and you will always find her moving around with a book. Her focus is on all the happening stuff in the tech domain, and she won't hesitate to take a shot at some of the oddball devices that make their way to our labs.