Elon Musk says Twitter will soon have voice, video calling and other features
Musk said three of the features are directly related to direct messaging
Why has the removal of Twitter's blue checks caused such a controversy?: Gary Hoffmann
'Kennedy' panelists Robby Soave, Gary Hoffmann and Scott Levenson discuss Twitter's decision to add blue checks to the accounts of dead celebrities.
Twitter CEO Elon Musk said Tuesday that the social media platform’s users are getting a handful of more capabilities incorporated into its chats.
Voice and video chat via Twitter handle are in the works, according to an evening tweet from Musk. Those capabilities will arrive "soon" and bring users the ability to "talk to people anywhere in the world without giving them your phone number," he said.
MUSK SLASHES TWITTER DOWN TO ABOUT 1,000 EMPLOYEES: REPORT
Direct message (DM) encryption is also coming, with Musk indicating in the same tweet its addition to the platform "should happen" the following day.
The announced features add to the swath of other changes Elon Musk has already instituted at the social media platform. (Muhammed Selim Korkutata/Anadolu Agency / Getty Images)
"This will grow in sophistication rapidly," he said of the encrypted DM feature. "The acid test is that I could not see your DMs even if there was a gun to my head."
Other social media sites, like Signal and Meta Platform’s Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp, already have encryption capabilities.
Two other features — also DM-related — went live Tuesday, according to Musk’s tweet and one from Twitter Support.
A sign at Twitter headquarters is shown in San Francisco on Dec. 8, 2022. (Jeff Chiu, File / AP Newsroom)
One removes the limitation of users only having the ability to respond to the latest DM sent by another person, enabling responding to whichever one they want, the tweets said. He had previously expressed an interest in adding such an option in February, FOX Business previously reported.
ELON MUSK SAYS VERIFIED TWITTER ACCOUNTS NOW ‘PRIORITIZED’
The other upped the number of DM reaction emojis available. On both mobile and browser, the app gave seven options to choose from on Wednesday afternoon.
"We are already working on improving these features – web support and better rendering for replies to media messages," Twitter Support stated.
Those announced features add to the swath of other changes Musk has already instituted at the social media platform post-acquisition.
A Twitter logo is displayed on a smartphone screen on Nov. 15, 2022. (Omar Marques/SOPA Images/LightRocket via / Getty Images)
The CEO has revamped the site’s verification, stripping users of the blue badges obtained through the legacy program and utilizing different-colored check marks for various types of users. The platform also recently rolled out a program that allows eligible users around the world to make available a paid subscription to their fans.
TWITTER TO LET USERS MONETIZE CONTENT WITH SUBSCRIPTIONS
Last month, Twitter announced tweets that have had their reach curbed as part of enforcement for possible breaches of its hateful conduct policy would start carrying labels that disclose such action.
Musk’s ownership of the platform dates back to late October of last year.