Twitter has made it easier for journalists to direct messages sources or writers to reach out to readers with direct messages. You can see the new setting in the image embedded above…
If you feel comfortable communicating with other Twitter users via direct message, you should consider turning on this feature in your Twitter settings. 10,000 Words has all the details:
By this point in time, every reporter has probably tried to reach out to some potential source via Twitter. It’s awkward, and often if the subject is of interest to you they’re probably inundated with other requests … What if you want to reach someone without tipping off your competition? What if you don’t want to put all your contact information out there day in and day out? What if you’re trying to reach a bunch of people — you look like a spam bot with tweet after tweet after tweet of the same thing … Now, there’s an option to allow any of your followers to DM you — even if you’re not following them. It’s an opt-in feature, but one that could be useful for businesses and reporters.Twitter recently made a subtle change to direct messages that over time should be good for journalists. You can direct message people who aren’t following you back.