A Comprehensive Guide to Sliding Into DMs
LatestAs of today, Twitter has abolished its 140-character limit for direct messages. Now, you can send messages containing up to 10,000 characters, as well as photos, meaning the DM sliding game has officially changed.
Last fall, Twitter began improving the function, adding the ability to send links and hold group conversations.
“We want to make sure you can really fluidly move between public and private,” said DM product manager Sachin Agarwal in an interview.
So, the women of Jezebel have come together to bring you a comprehensive guide to moving from public to private, a.k.a., sliding into his or her DMs. Use it as a roadmap to navigating the rocky terrain of one-on-one messaging on one of the most public platforms on the internet, and know that if you use it correctly, it could result in a committed long-term relationship.
First thing to know is that there are several reasons to slide. One might opt to use DMs in order to request sex or dates, for more platonic “I love your mind and your content”-type flirting, for shit-talking a third party, for networking and making connections, for providing benevolent advice, or for investigating the identity of troll accounts and conducting other Twitter-related business.
That said, each of these end goals requires a different introduction and a different level of comfort with the DM recipient involved. Consider: are the DM recipient’s DMs open or restricted to people they follow? The former recipient will likely be more open to engaging in some Internet mutual masturbation, but is also less likely to follow up in the real world since they are likely juggling a number of DM relationships at once. Am I generalizing? Yes, very much so.
Now, if you both already follow each other, the barrier to entry is much lower. You both clearly respect each other’s view, or, at the very least, are mutually hate-following one another and would likely be game for some rage-fueled boning (verbal or otherwise).
One Jezebel staffer advises that if you want to have a meaningful conversation—say, about an article or real-life events—to attempt to move it to email or phone as soon as possible.
A DM of this nature might read: