Twitter has announced that you can now received direct messages from anyone, if you wish. There’s a new option available to turn this on. Go to your Twitter profile, and then choose Settings. In the Security and privacy settings, scroll to the bottom, where you’ll see this option:
If you check that box, anyone can send you direct messages. I’m sure there are already spambots trying to send direct messages to lots of Twitter accounts. You probably don’t want to turn this feature on, unless you’re a brand or business that wants to interact with clients more easily.
If you don’t turn this option on, you can only receive direct messages from people you follow.