Twitter will now allow brands to request and share their location data with users using direct messages

Microblogging site Twitter has launched a new tool that allows brands to request and share location data with users via direct messages in order to provide better customer service, the media reported on Tuesday. "It is no longer about social marketing teams, but core customer care teams [that are responding on Twitter]. Companies are running a serious business here and looking for help in scaling it," Ian Cairns, product manager, Twitter was quoted as saying to VentureBeat.Users have complete control over this new feature, the brand manager will get user's permission to receive location data to direct users to the closest store, the report said. This new feature is available through Twitter's developer programme to its partners offering customer service tools for brands. It can also be used in a customer interaction, within an automated message, or anywhere else.Location data is also one of the most recent update to direct messages for brands. Support for location data comes days after Facebook announced that live location could be shared with friends and contacts within its Messenger app. This comes right after Twitter lost its head of Asia-Pacific business Aliza Knox after she decided to move on after a near-five year stint. Knox built out Twitter’s presence in Asia with an office in Singapore that currently spans nine locations with over 100 people on the payroll.