Big news! You can now opt-in to receive Direct Messages (DMs) on Twitter from anyone, whether you follow them or not. In the past, Twitter users could only send a DM to someone if they followed them first, and both would need to follow each other for a two-way chat to occur. 

What does this mean for businesses on Twitter?

By opting in to receive DMs from anyone, you make it easier for customers to initiate a private conversation with you - great for customer service issues that demand it, and stopping some negative interactions from being broadcast in the public Twitter feed., where everyone can see them.