In what appears to be the platform’s first half-decent change since Musk’s $44 billion takeover in 2022, the anomalous weirdo has announced that encrypted DMs (direct messages) are coming to Twitter later today, 10 May. Don’t take that date too seriously, though. As we’ve seen with the platform’s previous updates, Twitter isn’t bound to the constraints of mortal time. Regardless, we know that encrypted DMs are coming sometime in the near future.
But wait, there’s more
We’re excited to launch two new features in Direct Messages today!
📢 Introducing DM Replies! You can now reply to any message you receive in DMs, making conversations smoother and more intuitive.
🥳 We’ve also added a new Emoji Picker to DMs, allowing you to react to messages…
— Twitter Support (@TwitterSupport) May 10, 2023
Encryption isn’t the only change coming to Twitter’s DMs. According to Twitter Support, it’s added a wider range of emoji reactions, coupled with DM replies. We needn’t explain what emoji reactions are – every tech-related company has attempted to copy the feature in some way since Facebook introduced them in 2016. The only new bit of information is that Twitter won’t be limiting reactions to just six emojis, instead giving users the full bouquet to play with.
DM replies are a little more interesting. Just like you’ve seen in WhatsApp, iMessage, and Telegram, replies are a simpler way to answer specific messages, rather than shouting into the void, hoping the person on the other end doesn’t consider you a loon. Just hold down your finger on a message, and you’ll be given the option to reply to that message, and that message alone.
“We are already working on improving these features — web support and better rendering for replies to media messages,” says Twitter Support. As for when these features will be readily available to everyone, we couldn’t say. Some users have reported that they’ve already gone live, though we weren’t able to replicate that on our end.
This subheading has been encrypted
With latest version of app, you can DM reply to any message in the thread (not just most recent) and use any emoji reaction.
Release of encrypted DMs V1.0 should happen tomorrow. This will grow in sophistication rapidly. The acid test is that I could not see your DMs even if…
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 9, 2023
As for encrypted DMs, the latest build’s release “should happen” later today according to the big man himself. He promises that it will “grow in sophistication rapidly,” and that even he “could not see [y]our DMs even if there was a gun to my head.”
Yeah, we’ll believe it when we see it.
Finally, Musk’s tweet declared that some sort of voice and video chat were also in the works, “so you can talk to people anywhere in the world without giving them your phone number.” As for when voice and video functionality could arrive, Musk didn’t say, opting to remain vague enough to have a cushion to fall back on should it fail to come to fruition.