It was fun while it lasted, especially for spammers, direct marketers and those whose social media behaviour borders on stalking, but Twitter has decided to unceremoniously disable a new direct message feature after just one month.

Avid tweeters may have noticed that the "accept DM (Direct Messages) from anyone" option has vanished overnight from the service, meaning that from now on in order to send a direct message to another Twitter user, you will have to follow that person and he or she will also have to follow you.

Twitter, like many of the current generation of web companies, has a habit of testing new functions or features out and then dropping them again, often without warning. And the disappearance of DM did not come with any sort of prior announcement or explanation.

However, the move is leading some in the tech world to speculate that the option to direct message anyone on Twitter may soon return as part of a standalone messaging app. But in the meantime, celebrity tweeters around the world can breathe a sigh of relief: the nightmare is over.

Source: Canoe