Twitter allows anyone to send you a direct message: This is an upgrade?

According to Twitter, "Communicating with people you may or may not know in real life just got easier. Previously, if you wanted to send a Direct Message (DM) to the ice cream shop down the street about how much you love their salted caramel flavor, you'd have to ask them to follow you first. With today's changes, the ice cream shop can opt to receive Direct Messages from anyone; so you can privately send your appreciation for the salted caramel without any barriers."

OK. That's fine if I'm an ice-cream shop.
But, say I'm an ordinary person. I'm already buried in spam on my e-mail; Facebook posts from "friends" who are convinced that Hillary Clinton is the anti-Christ and others who are sure that Republican equals retarded; and endless credit card companies phone calls. Do, I really need an easy way for Joe Random Stranger to DM me? I don't think so.
In the past, for two people to DM each other they had to follow each other. Now, anyone can DM you. As a business communications service, this makes sense. For individuals, it's not that attractive. It seems like an invitation for 140-character spam.
Some people have other objections. Nicole Lee, senior editor at Engadget tweeted, "If you're wondering why I'm not allowing DMs from anyone, it's because I'm a woman on the internet." This is not just a feminist issue. Twitter CEO Dick Costlo recently admitted in a leaked internal message that "We suck at dealing with abuse and trolls on the platform and we've sucked at it for years."
Fortunately, Twitter has set the new DM default to not being able to receive DMs from Tom, Dick, or Harry. If you want to make certain that you can't be tweeted at by strangers go to your Twitter home page and click on your profile photo on the upper right of the page. Then click on settings. Next, pick Security and Privacy from the menu on the left. Then go to the bottom of this screen and make sure the box "Receive Direct Messages from anyone" isn't checked if you'd rather not receive messages from just anyone.