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Why do people call it DM? (lemmy.rollenspiel.monster)

I mean... I come from the forum scene and they were always called PMs, as in Private Message. What in the hell does DM stand for and when did things change from people calling them PMs to DMs.

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[-] xebix@lemmy.srv0.lol 50 points 1 year ago

I think Twitter might have been the first time I saw DM used but it stands for direct message.

[-] Moohamin12@lemm.ee 16 points 1 year ago

Twitter is where it started.

And every 'hip' person started talking about sliding into someone's DM and it became the default application.

PM is still used in professional settings sometimes.

[-] interolivary@beehaw.org 1 points 1 year ago

I somehow managed to read "default" as "segfault."

… I may have spent too much time debugging annoying shit today

[-] fattydrago@sh.itjust.works 42 points 1 year ago

DM is direct message and seems to have started around the same time things culturally shifted away from forums and boards more toward social media.

[-] 0x4E4F@lemmy.rollenspiel.monster 13 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

And now people don't even understand me, like I wrote "I'll PM you" and they said "What 🤨" 🤦.

Guess I'll have to shift from using PM to DM... though it seems completely illogical to me, but hey, that's life I guess.

[-] Oka@lemmy.ml 16 points 1 year ago

"I'll Prime Minister you"

"I'll prime meridian you"

"I'll post mortem you"

"I'll prima dona you"

"I'll Pringle Mingle you"

[-] JetpackJackson@feddit.de 8 points 1 year ago

Gonna steal "pringle mingle", sounds like a great insult lol

[-] InFerNo@lemmy.ml 3 points 1 year ago

"I'll dungeon master you"

"I'll deathmatch you"

That last one was probably used at some point in time though..

[-] JetpackJackson@feddit.de 8 points 1 year ago

I somehow never realized it was a shift from forums. I've used both terms interchangeably with a bias towards DM. TIL

[-] Oka@lemmy.ml 8 points 1 year ago

Same, but prefer PM. We both know what we mean :p

[-] JetpackJackson@feddit.de 4 points 1 year ago

Yup, and that's what matters

[-] ekky43@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I'll be you Dungeon Master any day ~~<3

Playing Tuesdays and Thursdays, bring a barbarian or fighter.

[-] bionicjoey@lemmy.ca 40 points 1 year ago

when did things change from people calling them PMs to DMs.

I don't think I've ever heard it called a "Pungeon Master"

[-] Navarian@lemm.ee 14 points 1 year ago

You, are a pun-geon master.

[-] lazylion_ca@lemmy.ca 32 points 1 year ago

PM means private message. Nothing on Facebook or Twitter ever suggested that personal messages were private, so they used direct message instead to make sure there was no legal confusion.

[-] Mane25@feddit.uk 21 points 1 year ago

I assume it's direct message. I also come from the forum scene and grew up with PMs. The cynic in me says maybe the big social media companies are shy of using the "private" word when their business model revolves around exploiting user data. Alternatively it's just language evolving over time.

[-] daddyrat@lemmy.world 20 points 1 year ago

“Direct Message” , from Twitter.

[-] unwinagainstable@lemmy.world 16 points 1 year ago

DM stands for Dungeon Master, the person who makes up the story in the game Dungeons and Dragons

[-] Imgonnatrythis@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago

More like Dork Moron! Now give me your lunch money.

[-] ctobrien84@lemmy.world 15 points 1 year ago

DM means Dungeon Master to me, so I go with PM, if I don't just say message.

[-] jcg@halubilo.social 1 points 1 year ago

I say "text" even though I almost never mean SMS

[-] mp3@lemmy.ca 13 points 1 year ago

I prefer the terms DM, especially if the messaging system doesn't rely on E2EE. If the server admins can read it, then it's not private.

Well, yes that is true, but still, it's not public either.

I might have to change my lingo to using DM instead of PM cuz some people don't actually know what I'm talking about.

[-] luthis@lemmy.nz 12 points 1 year ago

Because of the phrase 'slide into the DMs'. I tried to 'slide into the PM' but the Prime Minister wasn't having any of that

[-] Kolanaki@yiffit.net 10 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Direct Message.

I've only really seen "DM" used this way with Twitter, so I have to assume that's what Twitter calls private messages.

[-] 0x4E4F@lemmy.rollenspiel.monster 0 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Dude, everyone calls them DMs, on FB, here, Reddit... in fact, I've never seen anyone call them PMs, except for me.

[-] c0mbatbag3l@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago

Direct message became ubiquitous in the wake of "slide into your DM's" as a phrase.

At least in my experience.

[-] coolfission@lemmy.world 8 points 1 year ago

DM/PM/IM all mean the same thing

[-] spdrmx@beehaw.org 7 points 1 year ago

Direct message, I think it mainly comes from twitter where you could add a "d" before someone’s @ to message them, maybe the use of "direct" instead of "private" was to avoir the confusion with private accounts?

[-] SandmanXC@lemmy.world 5 points 1 year ago

It's what some people call a /whisper

[-] TimLovesTech@badatbeing.social 4 points 1 year ago
[-] saba@lemmy.sdf.org 1 points 1 year ago

i always preferred to /query

[-] WhatASave@lemmy.world 0 points 1 year ago

Yeah of pst

[-] unagi@feddit.nl 5 points 1 year ago

Just think of the P in PM as a D, but with a tiiiiiiny vertical line going down from the bottom left so it’s a P.

Good one 🤣.

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this post was submitted on 22 Jul 2023
81 points (85.2% liked)

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