Twitter has released two new updates for DMs, which have been in the works for a few months, but are now getting a full launch in the app.

First off, you’ll now be able to reply direct to any message within a DM thread, making it easier to interact within group chats and discussion, with greater clarity around who and what you’re responding to in-stream.

As you can see in this example, shared by social media expert Matt Navarra, now, you’re able to reply to a specific message in a chat thread, and that response will be aligned to the original message bubble, as opposed to being added to the end of the chain.

Twitter’s also added a new emoji picker within DMs, so you can react to a message with a wider range of emoji options.

Twitter first previewed this back in January, and it’ll provide more ways to use quick emoji responses within DMs, which could add another fun element to your chat interactions.

In addition to these updates, Twitter chief Elon Musk says that the first iteration of encrypted DMs will be launched this week, adding more security and privacy in the app.

Twitter’s been developing encrypted DMs for months, with Musk flagging this as one of his priority projects when he first took over at the app. And while some have concerns around the added protection that encryption can potentially provide for criminal activity, the general consensus seems to be that greater security for all users is more important than the risks associated with facilitating such among the few.

Again, not all agree, but Twitter will be moving into line with Meta in implementing E2E across all of its messaging options.

Musk also says that audio and video calling options will soon also be available in Twitter DMs, expanding the connective capacity of the option.

Over time, more social platform interactions are switching to private messaging, and away from public feed posts, and these new additions and updates could enable Twitter to better lean into this trend, and facilitate a broader array of response options in people’s preferred connection channels in the app.

The challenge, then, is monetization, as users are generally not open to ads within DM surfaces – but the move towards more entertainment, as opposed to connection in the main feed, does also provide additional ad placement opportunities and potential.

It’s the most significant habitual shift we’ve seen in social media thus far, and it’s evolving slow, so you may not notice so much, but over time, social feeds are increasingly becoming entertainment and discovery elements, where we source content, that we then share among our closer friend groups in private, as opposed to flagging our interests in our own feeds.

That’s a paradigm shift for ad approaches, and it’s worth considering how you can tap into this new normal, and what it may mean for outreach strategies moving forward.  

UPDATE: Twitter has now launched the first stage of its encrypted DMs implementation - you can read more about how to use encrypted DMs here.