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Twitter Introduces Read Receipts, Web Link Previews in Direct Messages

Twitter Introduces Read Receipts, Web Link Previews in Direct Messages 402h27

By Tasneem Akolawala | Updated: 9 September 2016 18:04 IST

Highlights

Twitter now shows if direct messages have been read or not
It also introduces Web link previews
The read receipts feature has not rolled out for the Web yet

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After introducing Android, the social giant is now taking efforts to put focus back on its Direct Messaging (DM) feature. 1h6h15

Twitter has been trying to position direct messages as a chat app and many changes have been introduced recently in a bid to encourage more conversations. The most notable among these changes was the removal of the 140-character limit in DMs last year enabling s to exchanges lengthy missives. And now, the introduction of read receipts, typing indicators, and web link previews to direct messages is another most definite sign of Twitter intentions for its direct messages feature.

Read receipts bring the ability to see if the has read the private message or not, or whether it has been delivered or not. This works similar to what is seen on WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger. s who consider this as a breach of privacy can disable it from the Settings menu. However, you will then not be able to see whether your message has been delivered or not either.

This new feature hasn't been rolled out on the Web, but it is available for Android and iOS s. Additionally, Twitter DM also gets Web link previews. This means that every time you send a link via DM, a small preview will also be sent alongside. Lastly, Twitter has also introduced the typing indicator feature which show three dots next to the name when they are typing a reply in real-time. While Direct Messaging isn't the first choice of communication for many s, these additions are still noteworthy for the platform. All of these features don't require an update, and are accessible to all s currently.

As mentioned, Twitter has slowly but steadily been updating the DM to make it more friendly for its avid s. It gradually allowed people to add emojis and even added a button that let people easily share 'tweets' in direct messages.

Most of these features can be found on most chat apps out there, and Twitter appears to be playing catch up for now. These latest updates to direct messages are welcome changes to the otherwise mundane feature, and Twitter's continued efforts could possibly bear fruit for them sometime in the future.

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Twitter Introduces Read Receipts, Web Link Previews in Direct Messages 402h27

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