The short messaging service Twitter has changed its rules so that from now on any Twitter user can send a private message known as a direct message to any other Twitter user.

Up till now a user had to ask another user to follow them before they could send them a direct message.

Writing on the company blog, senior software engineer Nhu Vuong said it would make it easier than ever to have private conversations on the platform.

Users will have to change their settings to make it possible for anyone to send them a direct message. The new function will make it easier for popular Twitter users such as businesses or celebrities to receive messages from their fans or customers.

The Twitter blog gave the example of an ice cream shop being able to receive direct feedback from its customers. In the event of spam or abuse, it’ll be possible to block specific senders.

Twitter has been trying for some time to attract new users and remove hurdles to communication on its platform. The service is in tough competition with other messaging services such as WhatsApp and Snapchat.

The Facebook-owned WhatsApp has 800 million users and is fast heading for a billion whereas Twitter has only around 290 million users and is growing at a much slower rate.

- dpa