Twitter’s new features to allow DM reply, voice & video chat

Billionaire Elon Musk has announced a slew of new features to boost activity on the microblogging platform Twitter. The Tesla chief, who bought Twitter last year after an ugly spat with the previous management, said the Twitter app will now enable a new feature for DM or direct messages replies, and other features like encrypted DM 1.0, and ‘voice and video’ chat, in direct competition to rivals like WhatsApp and Instagram.

In the latest tweet, Musk said with the latest version of the app, one can DM reply to any message in the thread (not just the 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 there was a gun to my head," he said.

The billionaire said Twitter will soon come up with "voice and video chat" from one's handle to anyone on this platform, which will help users to talk to people anywhere in the world without giving them phone numbers.

These ‘voice and video’ features are similar to other rival platforms like WhatsApp and Instagram, which will allow users to connect via voice call or video call to anyone in the world.

Among new features, the company is launching two new features in 'Direct Messages'. "Introducing DM Replies! You can now reply to any message you receive in DMs, making conversations smoother and more intuitive."

The company said it has added a new 'Emoji Picker' to DMs, allowing one to react to messages with a wider range of emojis than ever before. "We are already working on improving these features -- web support and better rendering for replies to media messages. More coming soon, and let us know what you think!"

The Tesla CEO had first proposed to buy out Twitter in April 2022. He bought Twitter for $44 billion in October last year. The microblogging platform’s takeover concluded after a long legal battle, which saw many flip-flops by Musk, forcing Twitter to move to court against him.

Musk in January had also announced that the social media platform will be rolling out a new, but slightly expensive subscription model, to curtail advertisements on Twitter. Later, the company launched a Twitter Blue subscription as part of key changes in the platform. This service is priced at $7.99 on purchasing the subscription via the website, whereas it's available at $11 per month for iOS users via the Apple app store.

In India, a Twitter Blue subscription is currently available at a fee of ₹650 per month for web users and ₹900 per month for Android and web users. The social media platform has also launched a discounted price of the annual subscription at ₹6,800, which means the users will have to pay ₹566.67 per month. The social media platform laid off 50% of its workforce of 7,500 employees as a cost-cutting measure after Musk acquired the social media platform in October last year.