• Fellowships
  • Reports
  • Lab
  • Storyboard
    • Nieman Foundation at Harvard
    HOME
    About
    Subscribe
    Archives
              
    Foundation
    Reports
    Storyboard
    LATEST STORY
    BREAKING: The ways people hear about big news these days; “into a million pieces,” says source
    Business Models Mobile & Apps Audience & Social Aggregation & Discovery Reporting & Production
    ABOUT                    SUBSCRIBE
    Oct. 15, 2013, 2:55 p.m.
    Twitter’s changing its direct messaging policy, some journalists are ready to take advantage
    LINK: mashable.com  ➚   |   Posted by: Joshua Benton   |   October 15, 2013

    Twitter is changing an old policy that meant that you could only be DM’d by — that is, you could only receive a direct message from — users that you follow. (So if I follow John Doe, John Doe can DM me — but if John Doe follows me and I don’t return the favor, he can’t.) This has led to all sorts of confusion among Twitter users and endless plaints to “please follow me so I can DM you.”

    That was the old policy. Now, Twitter will let users decide individually whether they want to receive DMs from any Twitter user.

    On one hand, limiting incoming DMs to people you follow distinguishes your Twitter inbox from your email one — theoretically, every message should be from someone you consider interesting enough to follow. But particularly for journalists, it also means cutting off a lot of potential sources. A number of journalists this morning said they’d be switching to the new policy.

    Show tags
     
    What’s the best way to follow how the news is changing?
    Our daily email, with all the freshest future-of-journalism news.
    Prefer a once-a-week email? »
    The latest from Nieman Lab
    BREAKING: The ways people hear about big news these days; “into a million pieces,” says source
    Joshua Benton
    In 1924, a magazine ran a contest: “Who is to pay for broadcasting and how?” A century later, we’re still asking the same question
    Julia Barton
    You’re more likely to believe fake news shared by someone you barely know than by your best friend
    Joshua Benton
    To find readers for longform investigations, Public Health Watch leans on partners and in-person work
    Sarah Scire
    Could social media support healthy online conversations? New_ Public is working on it
    Sophie Culpepper
    Join the 60,000 who get the freshest future-of-journalism news in our daily email.
    BREAKING: The ways people hear about big news these days; “into a million pieces,” says source
    The New York Times and the Washington Post compete with meme accounts for the chance to be first with a big headline.
    In 1924, a magazine ran a contest: “Who is to pay for broadcasting and how?” A century later, we’re still asking the same question
    Radio Broadcast received close to a thousand entries to its contest — but ultimately rejected them all.
    You’re more likely to believe fake news shared by someone you barely know than by your best friend
    “The strength of weak ties” applies to misinformation, too.
    Help advance the Nieman Foundation’s mission “to promote and elevate the standards of journalism” by making a donation.

    To promote and elevate the standards of journalism

    Covering thought leadership in journalism

    Pushing to the future of journalism

    Exploring the art and craft of story
    © 2024 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College  /  Some rights reserved
    Harvard Trademark Privacy Digital Accessibility
    Walter Lippmann House    One Francis Ave.    Cambridge, MA 02138    617 495 2237