ダイレクトメッセージ

Borrowed from English 'direct message'. The abbreviation DM (read ディーエム) is widely used and often replaces the full form, especially in chat and social-media contexts.

Usage

ダイレクトメッセージ refers exclusively to messages sent through the private-message function of a social-media or messaging app. It does not refer to ordinary email, text messages (SMS), or in-person messages. The most common platforms in Japan where the term applies are X (Twitter), Instagram, LINE, Facebook, and TikTok.

The abbreviation DM is the form most often used in everyday speech and writing:

• DMください: 'Please send me a DM'
• DMで連絡(れんらく)します: 'I'll contact you by DM'
• DMが届(とど)いた: 'I got a DM'

In business settings (e.g. small online shops, freelance designers), accepting orders or inquiries by DM is a normal practice.
In the Japanese context, especially online, 'DM' is used so frequently that 'DM ください' has become a stock phrase. On Twitter (X) and Instagram, sellers, organizers, and freelancers routinely tell potential customers to send a DM for further information.

Common collocations

• ダイレクトメッセージを送(おく)る: to send a direct message
• ダイレクトメッセージを受(う)け取(と)る: to receive a direct message
• ダイレクトメッセージで連絡(れんらく)する: to contact (someone) by DM
• ダイレクトメッセージが届(とど)く: for a DM to arrive
• ダイレクトメッセージを無視(むし)する: to ignore a DM
• ダイレクトメッセージを確認(かくにん)する: to check one's DMs
• ダイレクトメッセージを開(ひら)く: to open a DM
• ダイレクトメッセージで問(と)い合(あ)わせる: to inquire by DM

Similar words

• DM (ディーエム): the abbreviated form; far more common than the full ダイレクトメッセージ in casual use.
• メッセージ: message — the general word; can refer to any kind of message including DMs but also public messages.
• LINE (ライン): the dominant Japanese messaging app; messages on LINE are usually called LINE or just メッセージ rather than DM.
• 私信(ししん): a private message, a personal communication — a more old-fashioned term, originally used for handwritten letters but sometimes applied to private digital messages as well.
• ダイレクトメール (DM): direct mail — a *false friend* of ダイレクトメッセージ. ダイレクトメール means the postal/email marketing kind of direct mail (advertising flyers, mass emails), not personal social-media messages. Be careful: the same abbreviation 'DM' is sometimes used for either, and Japanese speakers occasionally have to clarify which one they mean.