Twitter Direct Messages Is Not Working

Direct messages sent over Twitter can be great marketing tools for your business -- when they work. Actually, Twitter staff aren't forthcoming with many reasons Twitter direct messages -- also called DMs -- fail to work due to a problem with the Twitter platform. Difficulty with DMs seems to come mostly from people not following Twitter DM guidelines, which have largely stayed the same since Elon Musk took over, or from actions another Twitter user has taken.

Following

DMing differs from normal tweets, in that they can only be viewed by you and the person you send them to. For you to send a DM to others, they must be following you on Twitter. Likewise, for others to send a DM to you, you must be following them. To find out the details, access a person's Twitter profile page on the Twitter app. If you see a blue “Following” button, you'll know that you follow the person. And you'll know if the person follows you if you see the words "Follows You" next to the person's name. From here, just hit the DM button on your iPhone or Android device and type away!

Direct messages won't work properly if you ignore these two rules. Additionally, it should be noted that there is no daily limit for Twitter DMs like there are for tweets.

App

Sometimes, if you use a third-party application to send or receive Twitter DMs, messaging can glitch and not work properly. This happens when the app hasn't been given permission by Twitter to access your DMs. To see if your app has permission, log into your Twitter account, click the gear icon, and then click "Settings." Then click "Apps" and look for your third-party app. If you don't see it, open your app and try re-adding your Twitter account to the app, if you haven't added it already. Eventually, if the app you're using truly does need to access your DMs, Twitter will prompt you to grant access to the app. If you find that you keep running into hassle from this, uninstall the third-party app and reinstall it.

Deletions

The DM feature may also not appear to be working right if you can't locate a DM you'd already received in your DM box. The first thing to consider is that Twitter shows only the last 100 DMs you've sent or received. Furthermore, if a person to whom you sent a DM or who sent a DM to you deletes a message, that message is removed from your DM box as well.

Mobile

If you link your mobile phone to your Twitter account and receive DMs on your phone via SMS text, you might find complications. Some mobile carriers split a DM into two or more parts if the message has more than 160 characters. In that case, a Twitter user on a mobile phone might receive only part of the message. Therefore, Twitter staff encourage those who send DMs to keep the messages to 160 characters or less, to prevent missed messages and communication failures. Whether you use an android or iOS device, you can find tons of social media support teams and FAQs on the twitter support page or in the comment section of different threads.