Direct Message (DM)

A direct message, commonly shortened to "DM," is a message sent privately from one person to another rather than posted somewhere a group can see it.

The term is used across most social and chat platforms. On chat apps, DMs and private chats overlap heavily — both refer to the one-on-one, out-of-public-view conversation channel.

"Sliding into someone's DMs" is informal slang for starting a private conversation with someone, often after seeing them in a public space first.