Twitter CEO Elon Musk announces new features of calling and encrypted messaging

Elon Musk, CEO of Twitter, announced on Tuesday that the platform will be launching new features that include calling and encrypted messaging, similar to those available on other social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram. Twitter was ranked among Forbes’ top 10 global apps with the most monthly active users in 2022. Additionally, Twitter announced earlier this week that it will start removing and archiving accounts that have been inactive for several years.

Musk stated in a tweet that the latest version of the app will allow users to DM reply to any message in the thread, not just the most recent one, and use any emoji reaction. Encrypted DMs V1.0 will also be released, and Musk assured users that the encryption will be so secure that not even he could see their DMs if a gun was held to his head. He also revealed that voice and video chat features will soon be added, allowing users to talk to people anywhere in the world without giving out their phone numbers.

Earlier, Musk had announced plans for ‘Twitter 2.0 The Everything App’, which could include long-form tweets, payments, and encrypted direct messages. Direct messaging on Twitter will now be available starting from Wednesday, but it’s unclear whether calls will also be encrypted.

Twitter Support stated that the platform is working on improving these features and is open to suggestions from Twitter users. Additionally, the app will add an Emoji Picker to DMs, allowing users to react to messages with a wider range of emojis.

In the past, Twitter has made several changes to its platform, including charging $8 per month for a blue checkmark, revoking the option after fake accounts impersonating celebrities and brands paid for the feature and tweeted false information, and then relaunching the subscription later.

Twitter also announced that it will test an edit button that allows users to alter tweets within 30 minutes of publishing, and launched Twitter Circle, which lets users share content with a smaller audience of up to 150 people.