Introduction:
An increasingly popular feature that even Meta’s Threads don’t yet have has been added to Twitter Rival T2 adds DMs, one of the smaller apps that would like to replace Twitter (now X)’s emigrating user base. The business stated that one of the top requests from users was the addition of support for direct communications.
This feature sets T2 apart from more popular Twitter rivals like Threads, Bluesky, and, to a lesser extent, Mastodon, where Direct Messages operate somewhat differently and are essentially just posts with the “direct” visibility setting but without end-to-end encryption.
Similar to T2, T2’s direct communications don’t provide end-to-end encryption, but they do at least enable more private communication between users. Naturally, private discussions should instead be exchanged on established social media platforms like Signal or even WhatsApp, which has made encryption a top priority.
Users can now find a new link in the app’s sidebar thanks to the July 26th deployment of DMs on T2. According to the firm, customers can manage who can DM them by visiting the Settings tab in T2. From here, you may decide whether to accept DMs from any app user, just from accounts you follow, or not at all.
To minimize spam and harassment in these talks, the firm claimed it chose not to encrypt direct communications. Even in direct messages (DMs), it has built-in nudges that prompt the sender to alter their message after automatically detecting potential insults or other threatening conduct. This kind of nudge can be successful.
Before Elon Musk, Twitter employed nudges to persuade users to be more subdued in their responses. According to the report, 34% of participants either changed their first response after seeing the prompt or decided not to submit one. Participants averaged 11% fewer abusive responses after being prompted just once.
Twitter Rival T2 adds DMs:
Twitter Rival T2 adds DMs (Image Source: techcrunch.com)
T2 was formed by former employees of Twitter and Google, notably Gabor Cselle, who had previously sold his prior businesses to Twitter and Google, and co-founder Sarah Oh, a former Twitter advisor on human rights. The company wanted to create a Twitter substitute with a stronger emphasis on trust and security, or, as Gabor’s profile puts it, “a kinder, safer public square.”
Another Twitter competitor, Bluesky, has since made a mistake. The latter has come under fire for moderating errors that included failing to combat bigotry and even allowing racist insults in usernames to pass in recent days.
However, Bluesky has surpassed the number of invites offered to its still-private network by having its app loaded 1 million times. T2, on the other hand, is still a web application but has been modified for mobile screens. The user base should be close to 15,000 by the end of the week, according to the business.
Decentralization refers to adopting a protocol like ActivityPub, which powers Mastodon and will soon power Threads, or Bluesky’s AT Protocol, to interact with other social networks. However, T2 has yet to make any specific plans in this regard.
We realize that the team now sees decentralization as a significant obstacle to moderation and creating a long-lasting, stable, and civil society because users can go to other servers if they don’t want to follow more rigid moderation guidelines.
