Twitter Audio DMs May Soon Be A Thing

Twitter is reportedly testing audio clips in its DM feature.

This is coming barely three months after it rolled out its voice tweet feature.

Like WhatsApp, this experiment will allow users to record and send voice messages.

Alex Ackerman-Greenberg, Product manager of Direct Messages at Twitter, said that:

“People want more options for how to express themselves in conversation on Twitter.”

“Twitter users can make use of audio messages publicly and privately.”

About the audio DM

Like voice tweets, the audio message will also come with a simple interface. 

We came across a leaked image showcasing what to expect.

Source: Theverge

As seen on the image, a play/pause button is attached to the sender’s avatar.

Also, the product team came up with an “in-line recording experience.”

This allows users to send audio messages as part of the “natural conversation flow.”

Addressing privacy concerns, Twitter made provision for a “report message” feature.

This way, users can easily report a sender for wrongful use of the audio message.

Twitter to address accessibility concerns

Twitter will build the audio messages on the back of its existing voice tweet.

As such, it’s important to address various concerns raised about the VT feature previously.

One primary concern about the audio tweet is accessibility.

Twitter faced various criticism after it failed to “factor in accessibility.”

Interestingly, only a limited number of users (iOS) still have access to the feature.

Well, that’s not the primary concern.

Instead, people can’t access specific feedback features.

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For instance, users complained about the lack of caption on the new voice tweet.

Twitter, however, blamed the flaw on the lack of a dedicated team.

Twitter software engineer Andrew Hayward, addressed the issue at length.

The volunteers behind accessibility at Twitter (there is no formal team) strive to do their best to ensure products are shipped appropriately. Unfortunately though, we aren’t aware of every product decision, and the wider #a11y conversation is ongoing.

— Andrew Hayward (⌀4.5m) (@arhayward) June 18, 2020

Hayward said employees often volunteer to work on the aspect of accessibility.

Moving forward

Twitter revealed it’s currently setting up a dedicated team for accessibility.

Hence, it can improve that as well as explore new opportunities.

Speaking in an interview, Dantley Davis, Twitter design chief, said that:

“We changed our product development process so that accessibility is always considered.”

He said that this will allow for more insight during the birth of a feature.

That said, we can hope for better availability in the upcoming audio message feature.

What we think about the feature

We believe Twitter is more of a joint-conversation platform than a messaging app.

Well, that’s not to mean that the audio DM isn’t a great feature.  

Twitter wants its users to explore the DM feature better.

Hence, Twitter can compete mainly with the likes of WhatsApp and Telegram.

Two of which are its major rival in that space.

What this also means is that users can now do more with their DMs.

ALSO READ: How to Tweet with Your Voice: Text Less Say More with Twitter Voice Tweets

Availability

The feature will be available to Twitter’s 18-million users in Brazil.

Hopefully, unlike the audio tweet, the upcoming feature will be accessible to all.  

Meanwhile, no fixed date has been announced for the release. 

We can, however, expect a wider availability one month after its release in Brazil.

In conclusion

The audio tweet hasn’t got so much attention as expected.

However, this could mean a bad omen for the audio message.

As such, it’s hard to tell otherwise if the Audio DM will make much difference.

Would you like to send an audio message to your Twitter DMS in the future?  

Kindly share your thought with us in the comments section below.