Guiding twitter users from a public Tweet to a private conversation
When interacting with a customer on Twitter, you might want to take the conversation from the public timeline to a private Direct Message. To make this transition easier, you can include a specially formatted link in a Tweet, and we will automatically transform that link into a simple call-to-action. When a user clicks the call-to-action, they’ll be taken directly into the Direct Message compose experience with your username already selected, as well as the public Tweet visible for context.
Using this new feature is easy. It requires that your Twitter account settings are set to “Receive Direct Messages from Anyone” (Settings > Security and Privacy > Privacy), and that you include a link in your Tweet using the following format.
https://twitter.com/messages/compose?recipient_id={your account’s numeric user ID}
That’s it! When you post the Tweet with that URL, the call-to-action will appear in supported clients. (Other clients will just see a deep link that is fully-functional.)
To find your User ID all you need to do is navigate to the Your Twitter data section in Settings and your User ID will be located right below your @username.
How does this feature impact the character count in my Tweets?
Twitter will shorten the deep link in your Tweet using t.co, and so the link will occupy 22 characters (the same amount as any t.co link). This is the case whether the call-to-action renders or does not render.
Does the deep link for a Direct Message work outside of Twitter?
Yes. The URL for a deep link to a Direct Message will attempt to open Twitter with a Direct Message compose window open if clicked from outside of Twitter.