So, apparently, Twitter wants to facilitate more private messaging in its app. As such, Twitter is adding a new DM icon for Tweets, at least for some users. It’s a surprising test, especially when you consider that Twitter isn’t exactly everyone’s first choice if they would want more private message interactions. It could provide Twitter with a new use-case, thereby adding to overall engagement, or it could also flop. Here’s what we have so far…

Drop Me A DM 

Based on screenshots, the new DM response icon, which is currently available to select iOS users, enables users to quickly and easily respond to Tweet authors in one tap, directly from any Tweet. Sound familiar?

Twitter already tried something like this back in 2016, with a DM icon built directly into your response options. At the time, Twitter was looking to increase its DM activity, with Fast Company reporting:

“Twitter says DM activity grew by 60% in 2015, and that sharing tweets through DMs has increased by 200% in the past six months alone.”

While it made sense to maximize this element, the push didn’t last long and Twitter eventually reverted to its standard share button, providing instead various options for sharing. The main difference with this renewed push is that Twitter now tries both, with a couple of new iterations with their latest version of the 2016 original.

Twitter explains:

“Our team is continually looking for ways to make conversations more accessible for everyone on Twitter. We are currently exploring new ways to give people more control over their conversations with private replies, a feature that allows you to respond to an author’s Tweet directly via their DMs. With this added control, people can continue the conversation off the timeline if they don’t feel comfortable doing so publicly.”

Twitter says that the 2016 option enabled people to send a specific Public Tweet to any user for ‘visibility’. The new version cuts out the bit where you’d need to select whom you’re forwarding a Tweet to, with the DM response heading directly to the author. Though it’s virtually the same thing, with this new version, you get both the direct DM option and the regular share button on each Tweet, allowing you to DM the Tweet author, then share the thread with somebody else.

The Wrap

This could potentially be huge for brands looking to directly connect with customers through the app, focusing more on the option to get them to interact with their Tweets. More on Twitter’s hopes, it can also be a quick and easy way to double-check your friends and their opinions, via a private note on Tweets. So while it doesn’t add all that much, nor is it a new concept, it may still prove valuable in that it warms users to the idea of being able to initiate more private conversations more often.

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Sources

https://bit.ly/3Jr0MjV