Cyclists Can Now Send DM's On Strava. Here's How To Safeguard Your Inbox.
“Ride into my DMs?” Is that what we’re going with? Surely, we can come up with something that doesn’t quite conjure the creepiness of unwanted messages on yet another social platform.
Because as of this past Monday, direct messaging is now a feature of the ultra-popular fitness app Strava (and thankfully, you can toggle your message settings to easily avoid those unwanted DMs, but more on that in a moment).
According to the San Francisco-based company, the feature was developed after the company researched proved that “athletes perform better together.” Of course, the idea of community, vis a vis giving each other “kudos” or commenting on others’ rides, has always been at the core of the app’s ethos.
Moreso than any internal research, the direct messaging function was likely due to the results of a wide-ranging survey conducted last year which tapped into some of Strava’s 100-million users, asking them which features they’d most like to see the platform embrace.
One of the most common responses? Direct messaging capabilities.
How to manage who can DM you in Strava
Of course, this doesn’t mean that Strava users will suddenly see an influx of DMs from people they don’t know or follow. Rather, according to a release announcing the new function, “Athletes on Strava can customize the Messaging feature based on their desired experience on the platform. For example, athletes can set their preferences on who can invite them to a Group Message or who can Message them directly.”
The release continued, “Settings will be automatically set based on an athlete’s profile visibility but can be adjusted to receive messages to and from ‘Following,’ ‘Mutuals,’ or ‘No One,’ under settings in the Strava app.”
In short, that means you can A: receive messages from anyone you follow, B: receive messages from those you follow and who follow you back, or C: no one can message you, but you can initiate messages with others and continue a private DM conversation from there.
Additionally, the release laid out how all users, regardless of whether they use the paid or free versions of Strava, will be able to send and receive DMs, privately share rides and ride data, and join in group messages (a boon for ride planners; a knock for those who hate group chats).
fAnd while the messaging experience will be the same regardless of whether your account is free or paid, Strava has indicated that paid users might be privy to some sort of “premium messaging” in the future.
Clubs can also use the function to communicate directly to all of their followers, posting ride invites or event recaps straight to their members.
Strava launched in 2009, growing steadily over the course of the next decade. However, like most things bike-adjacent, the app saw a massive boom in popularity over the course of the pandemic, with its valuation rising from around $300 million in 2019 to over $2 billion last year.
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