The direct message is a private feature of Twitter that enables users to send messages back and forth.

In order for you to dm me, I need to follow you. in order for me to reciprocally dm you, you need to follow me. Direct messages are not part of the public stream, and, as such, are not indexed or archived anywhere.

Here are two specific Twitter automation applications that enable bulk deleting and bulk sending of direct messages.

Bulk Delete Twitter DMs with DM Whacker

This is a bookmarklet you can add to your Firefox, Safari, Flock, or Google Chrome browser. once dragged and dropped (instructions and link here), you need to visit your twitter.com page, click to your DM page, and click the bookmarklet which will prompt you whether you want to delete all or some of your received/sent messages.

You can also opt to delete messages based on keywords.

If you run into any problems, send a tweet to developer Damon Cortesi.

Bulk Send Twitter DMs with Twetto

Twetto is a tool that lets you blast a singular direct message to a random list of your followers. Think about this from a marketing perspective, but be forewarned that twittiquette frowns on DMs that look like marketing.

After signing up for a free account at Twetto.com, log into your account and click the navigational tab for DM Blast. (There are other options in Twetto to pre-schedule tweets on specific days and times, and to search and/or follow suggested users who match specific keywords you input.)

Here is a screen shot of the instructions for DM Blast:

The drop down box for number of messages lets you determine how many to send out (which are sent sporadically so the system does not mistake your account for a spammer): 10, 20, 50, or 100. it appears the messages are sent to random followers, e.g. the following:

You can see messages are not sent at the same time. if you want to send more than 100 a week for up to three Twitter accounts, you need to pay $5.99 a month for a 250-message limit for 12 accounts.

If you run into any problems, send a tweet to the Twetto Team.

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