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Twitter Adds New Setting to Direct Messages, Allows Users to Accept DMs Without Following the Sender.

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twitter headerTwitter has finally made a great move for brands – the ability to allow Twitter users to Direct Message (DM) a Twitter user, even if they aren’t following.  This will make customer service easier for brands without having to worry about who follows who in order to facilitate it.

It is one of the pain points of reaching out to brands – often when personal detail is needed, you need to wait for the follows to happen first.  I have tweeted brands tweet a reply to me where they ask for a DM with personal details in return, yet they aren’t following me so a DM cannhot be sent, requiring another round of @replies.  So this will help alleviate that problem.

There is the chance that people will use this for bad for any number of reasons.  It could also be used by people spamming for “Buy 1000 Twitter followers for $5” or other types of DM spam.  And it could also be used to troll brands by those who don’t agree with something a brand is doing… think of brands that people love to hate, and how people could harass them through Twitter DMs.

But before you get upset about the change, be aware that this is an opt-in feature.  The default setting that only allows users you follow to DM you remains the same.  Those who want to enable it can do it in the Twitter settings.

twitter dmAll in all, a good change made by Twitter, as long as spam doesn’t become an issue.

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Jennifer Slegg

Founder & Editor at The SEM Post
Jennifer Slegg is a longtime speaker and expert in search engine marketing, working in the industry for almost 20 years. When she isn't sitting at her desk writing and working, she can be found grabbing a latte at her local Starbucks or planning her next trip to Disneyland. She regularly speaks at Pubcon, SMX, State of Search, Brighton SEO and more, and has been presenting at conferences for over a decade.

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