Glossary
Direct Message (DM)
A direct message (DM) is a private, one-to-one conversation between exactly two users, visible only to those participants and excluded from shared channels or group rooms.
General definition
Direct messages are the private messaging layer of any chat platform. When user A sends a DM to user B, only those two users can read the exchange. The conversation is typically stored separately from group rooms and carries its own notification and read-receipt state.
- Visible only to the two participants
- Persistent history that picks up where the last session left off
- Individual read receipts and typing indicators
- Independent notification settings from group channels
DMs are essential in any product where users need to communicate privately: marketplaces where buyers and sellers negotiate, healthcare apps where a patient messages a specific clinician, or enterprise tools where employees discuss sensitive topics outside a shared channel. The privacy expectation makes encryption and access control especially important for DMs in regulated contexts.
In the Ethora ecosystem
One-to-one direct messaging is included in the Ethora Chat SDK alongside group chat rooms. The SDK handles room creation, identity resolution and message delivery so you do not need to wire up private-chat logic separately from your group rooms.
For healthcare and finance applications, DMs between patients and providers, or between advisors and clients, benefit from the same self-hosted or dedicated server options that apply to all Ethora messages, ensuring message content stays on your own infrastructure rather than a shared cloud.
