Tech giant unveils desktop notifications for Direct Messages

folarin okunola

August 25, 2015 4:08 PM

This move suggests Twitter is trying to give direct messages some more priority, boosting the one-on-one aspect of the social network.

Almost every sports brand or event you can think of has a Twitter account

On Monday, Twitter announced a handy new feature for users of its Web interface - desktop notifications for direct messages. The company also announced an upcoming update for its Android app separately that reinvents the Direct Message interface.

Desktop notifications for direct messages is an optional feature, and users can enable it at their own discretion.

When enabled, the desktop notifications will appear on the top right corner of the browser window, showing the sender's name and a preview of the message. When the user clicks the notification, they are directed to their direct messages page so they can read and respond.

According to Gadgets NDTV, a Twitter spokesperson also confirmed an upcoming update for the Twitter app for Android that basically revamps the direct message feature to boost engagement.

READ: 140 character limit taken off Direct Messages

The report quotes the spokesperson as saying; "When you share a public tweet in a private Direct Message, you'll notice the screen where you pick who to send the message looks different. We've made the avatars more prominent, and placed your most recent conversations up top. Below your most recent conversations, we suggest more conversations to dive into," and provided a screenshot of how the feature will look.

This move suggests Twitter is trying to give direct messages some more priority, boosting the one-on-one aspect of the social network.

The desktop notifications update comes after Twitter's announcement from a few weeks ago that lifted the 140-character limit from Direct Messages between users.

Also, Twitter made it possible for users to receive direct messages from anyone back in April. The company also unveiled Group Direct Messaging in January.

folarin okunola