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Because they are still used on the web as well. I still use "D {handle} {message}" to DM people.

Seems like a mistake waiting to happen.

Anyone remember Anthony Weiner? His infamous tweet (that ended up with him resigning from Congress) was intended to be a direct message but he started it with @, not D, so it went (briefly) to his public timeline [1].

And it seems that, when you're a congressman, posting a dick pic even briefly is enough to attract some attention.

[1] http://www.nationaljournal.com/how-weiner-fell-into-the-twit...

It's so ironic, the whole thing could have been avoided if he'd given her the D... (sorry)

You're not sorry.

Yep, it has already happened!

A few years back you could tweet FOLLOW USERNAME and that username would follow you

Yes, but only in Soviet Russia.

For @chucknorris this feature has always existed.

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