How Twitter’s group messaging could help you talk to your heroes
It’s official: Twitter’s direct messaging feature is making a comeback…maybe. Yes, Twitter has long had the DMing feature, but it was usually forgotten, what with all the actual tweeting we have to do. Plus, DMing was never a super practical way to talk to people. If you want a private chat with an IRL friend, you can text. And while talking one-on-one with someone you only know through Twitter anyway, like a celebrity, sounds awesome, even if you get the precious follow you need to even have the chance to DM them, it is nearly impossible to stand out in the tidal wave of DMs they’re receiving. In response (okay, maybe not really directly in response to the need to DM celebs, but in response to something), the technology team at Twitter has amped up their game by introducing a group DM feature that might become the newest and greatest addition to the Twitter experience.
With its 140-character limit, Twitter forces us to contain our never-ending storm of thoughts into a concise, yet understandable tweets. Even though this makes it incredibly difficult to adequately express our overflowing, abundance of feels (like, for example, our love for the oh-so-gorgeous Liam Hemsworth) in a single tweet, we have adapted to the character limit. But there’s no better place to gush love for people and their projects than Twitter, which offers the most direct, convenient connection to cool people in every imaginable field. This brings us back to geeking out over Twitter’s new feature: Group Direct Messages.
We fell in love with the concept of group messaging with texting. Can we all just agree it was a complete GAME CHANGER? Don’t want to text five different friends the same message about plans? Just group message it and then everyone can talk in real time, in one place. It’s amazing. So naturally, the introduction of group messaging on Twitter is a curve ball that’s going to change the way we use the app.
Basically, group messaging on Twitter means that DM-able reach can stretch beyond your own followers. How? It’s simple: You can only DM people who follow you, but in a group message setting, any member of the group chat can add new people. Meaning you can gain direct access to a friend-of-a-friend (or, more accurately, a follower-of-a-follower).
Group DMs are a great way to connect with tons of your besties at once and to potentially network your way to a semi-private convo with a celebrity, author, tastemaker or just generally hilarious-but-not-following-you human being on Twitter. Yes, networking is a scary, grownup word that usually comes up along with other scary, grown up words like “jobs” and “internships” and “major life choices,” but in the digital age, even the introverts among us can mix and mingle with the best of them.
In honor of Twitter gifting us with this fabulous new feature, it is time to start testing out the direct group messaging world for ourselves. In the meantime, we’ll just be stalking the people Taylor Swift and Mindy Kaling follow.
