What do you do if you want to send someone a private message or Tweet that does not get seen by the rest of the world? What if you want this to be between you and that one other person?
These can be done by using Twitter’s Direct Message feature, which allows for private messages to be sent from one Twitter user to another.
Direct Messages won’t show up on anyone’s Twitter home page or public feed, it will only show on the recipient’s Direct Message list on their personal Twitter page – and only if they follow you.
To send someone a Direct Message (DM), click on Direct Messages (toward the top, all the way to the right below your Twitter Profile and @AccountName).
Just like for any Tweet you send, Direct Message also has a limit of 140 characters, this does not mean you can’t start a conversation though.
Just select the person you want it to go to (from your list of available names), type in your message, and send.
If you want to DM someone and the person’s name does not show up in your list of available names, you might still be able to DM them anyway.
Go to their profile and seeing if the word “message” (auto-populated with a link) appears next to their Twitter name under Actions as you scroll down the right hand column.
If it’s there, you can DM them.
You might also want to continue a public Twitter conversation privately with a smaller group, or start a group chat based on a Tweet that you saw somebody post. You can do this by starting a group Direct Message with a group of up to 20 people.
The group function lets you start conversations with any of your followers and they don’t all need to follow one another in order to chat.
You can create a group in just a few taps and when you’re added to a group, you’ll get a notification.
Try it out, take the next step and send someone a Direct Message – it may just brighten their day!
Twitter is a global platform for public self-expression and conversation in real time.
By developing a fundamentally new way for people to consume, create, distribute and discover content, Twitter enables any voice to echo around the world instantly and unfiltered.