Twitter added a button to their official app for Android and iOS recently that lets you share tweets, to a person or a group, using direct messages. This makes it more convenient for the user, as in the past you would not be able to do it this way. Instead, you would have needed to long press on the tweet or click the ellipsis icon, and click “share via direct message”. Now you can click their new DM button, that is right next to the heart, and select a person or group you would like to send it to.
This new button is similar to something Pinterest did in 2014. Pinterest wanted to create “conversations around an object”. Now with this new button, DMs will have more meaning to them — instead of them being the main subject in songs or the first steps into being Catfished.
Twitter DMs grew 60 percent in 2015, most likely because of drama, trash talking, and other nonsense — although the raised character limit likely helped as well. Though, this new addition, Twitter hopes, will make sure that DMs are more meaningful and less thoughtless.
What do you think about this new way to share/start private conversations? Is it convenient and purposeful, or just a new way to “slide”…?
