Twitter now filters Direct Messages from unknown followers

Twitter has added a new feature to Direct Messages (DMs) that will now filter DMs from unknown followers.

DMs from people you do not know will be contained in 'Requests' in the new Messages tab inbox in Twitter on iOS, Android and will soon be available on Twitter.com.

"The new DM review inbox function works for anyone who's turned on the setting that allows receipt of messages from people they don't follow and will let you choose to either 'Delete' or 'Accept' inbound messages," TechCrunch.com reported on Tuesday.

Twitter users will also not be able to see media sent from people they don’t follow until they choose the 'Accept' option, which is a good way to help prevent nasty image or video surprises.

You can opt to reveal the media prior to accepting the message, too, giving you one more level of mediation.

The sender will not know whether or not the receiver has seen their message until you hit accept.

New conversations from people you don’t follow will be flagged as 'Requests' in the new inbox in the Messages tab in Twitter on iOS, Android today, and on Twitter.com soon, and that includes new group conversations you’re included on. TechCrunch noted:

It’s a smart way to encourage people to open up DMs and keep DMs open, while also giving them a measure of protection against unwanted communication, including potential abuse.

Last week, Twitter launched a customisable Direct Message Card that businesses can use to promote and share bots and other customer experiences in DMs.

With this new card, Twitter aims at helping businesses drive discovery of such experiences - both through promoted tweets and organic sharing. Businesses can capture people’s attention with engaging image or video creatives, and include up to four customisable call-to-action buttons. Each call-to-action button takes the user into a specific experience within Direct Messages. With Direct Message Cards running in Promoted Tweet campaigns, businesses can leverage Twitter Ads’ full targeting suite to find a relevant audience to pull into personalised conversations at scale. Businesses can also turn their audience into advocates by encouraging them to share the experience in their own voice through a Tweet.