Twitter's recent updates in its features suggest a change of direction. The online social networking service might soon be known as a mobile messaging app.

Read Receipts In Twitter's DM

The previous direct messaging in Twitter lets users see the message and a time stamp of when it was sent to them. What the new read receipts feature actually does is to put a blue check mark below messages. This is to indicate that the recipient of the message has seen it, according to PC Mag.

In cases of group messages, a note labeled "Seen by everyone" will be seen by the whole group. It will also show the people who have seen the item that was shared, according to TechCrunch.

Apparently, this feature is set by default. However, users can choose to disable it. This will make sure that neither the recipient of the message will know that the user has read his/her message, nor would the user be able to know that the recipient has read the message. For those who would prefer to opt out of the feature, all they need to do is go to the Settings and turn it off.

The read receipts can only be viewed in Android and iOS Twitter apps. It will not work when users access the Twitter site itself.

Twitter's Typing Indicators And Web Link Previews

Users normally don't see if their recipient is actually responding at that moment. The typing indicator appears as moving dots that are visible while the person on the other side is typing his/her response. This feature, along with the read receipts, may be familiar to Facebook Messenger users.

The web link previews feature is very simple. Users will now be able to see a little about the link. It lets users know what the message might be before they choose to open it or not. 

The changes made by Twitter have mostly focused on its direct messaging feature. They announced in their account that they are making the direct messaging conversations more dynamic than ever. It may be a smart move to make it more competitive.