The classic and often embarrassing, “Follow me so I can send you a DM” tweet may finally be going out of fashion. Over the past few days, Twitter has reportedly rolled a new settings option, allowing users to open their private inboxes up to any of their followers. In the past, users could only receive a direct message from someone they already followed.
The Verge was first to spot this minor Twitter update, which is reportedly accessible in some users’ account settings as a checkbox titled, “Receive direct messages from any follower.” Twitter had previously opened up this option to a select group of users. Thankfully, you can always block individual users without turning off the setting altogether.
Twitter recently announced its intentions to become a publicly traded company, filing an IPO to reveal a rapidly growing business still struggling to turn a profit. It’s possible the update to its Direct Message service may be yet another move by the company to demonstrate its value and ability to adapt as it attempts to draw financial support for the offering next month.
