If you've been dying to send a Twitter direct message to Justin Bieber to tell him how much you love his new haircut, today is your lucky day. Twitter has changed its direct messages policy, allowing verified accounts to receive private messages from users they do not follow.
The change was first noticed by blogger Nabeel Ziyaan, according to The Next Web. "Now Twitter verified accounts [Brands] can let followers Direct Message without following back," he tweeted on Monday.
It was also confirmed by Indian mobile service provider Tata DOCOMO, which is allied with Japanese carrier NTT DOCOMO and the Tata group, TNW says. "Now to DM us all you need to do is follow @tatadocomo. No need for us to follow you first. Tested and its working," the company tweeted.
The new rule is good news for fans, but celebrities and other public figures might not be excited about a tool that could result in a flood of unsolicited messages. If you want to send Justin Timberlake (@jtimberlake) a message asking him how he became a partial owner of MySpace, there's nothing to stop you.
TNW notes, however, that Twitter allows verified accounts to turn off direct messages. Twitter has not said when the change will be rolled to all users, and reps did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Update: Twitter issued a statement to PCMag debunking the rumors, saying that its policy hasn't changed and this rumored feature is only available for a limited number of accounts.