2015 has been a busy year so far for the Twitter development team. The updates are primarily focused on direct messages and enhancing the mobile video experience.
Direct messages (DM): 2015 has seen three updates to the direct message functionality and they are pretty significant.
- Longer DM’s: Beginning in July, Twitter has expanded the number of characters in a direct message from 140 to 10,000 characters which is half as many as Facebook’s Messenger. With the 140-character limit, users would have to send multiple tweets in order to have a private conversation. It is expected this is due to the popularity of users using Facebook’s messenger to communicate privately. Public tweets will continue to have the 140-character limit.
- Ability to send a DM to anyone: In April, Twitter announced that it would allow users to receive direct messages from anyone on the social network regardless if they follow each other. Previously, both users had to follow each other to be able to send a DM. Any user can turn on the setting (it is off by default) to allow anyone to send a direct message regardless of whether they follow each other. Also, you can reply to anyone who sends you a DM whether or not that person follows you.
- Group DMs: Twitter introduced an update to the DM feature that allows for group messaging with multiple users – up to 20 in one message. If there are fewer than 20 participants, additional users can be added at any time and by any group member, not just the originator of the DM. Group (and individual) DMs now support pictures, links, emoji and tweet, along with text.
Mobile video: Twitter has enhanced the mobile video experience on the Twitter app. With a few taps you can capture, edit and share videos up to 30 seconds in length. A longer video might mean less people using Twitter-owned Vine which limits the video to 6 seconds. Twitter likely hopes to avoid having users drop off their platform and forget to return. The 30 seconds in length also may attract advertisers looking for new ways to reach audiences on Twitter.
Sharing block lists: Twitter has allowed a user to block or mute someone you do not want following you or see their posts in your Twitter stream. Starting a week ago, Twitter allows you to export and share your block lists with people in your community facing similar issues. You can import another user's list into your own account and block multiple accounts all at once, instead of having to block them individually.
What other improvements or suggestions would you recommend Twitter do to improve your Twitter experience?