Go to Settings → Privacy and tap Who can chat with you?. Pick Everyone, People who follow you or People you follow back. It decides who can start a new chat with you. Chats that have already started carry on as before.
Show steps for
Choose who can message you
Choose who can message you in the app
- On Home, tap your profile picture at the top to open Settings, then tap Privacy.
- Under Interactions, tap Who can chat with you?.
- Pick one of the three.
Choose who can message you on the website
Open Settings on ayyam.com and click Privacy. Under Who can message you, pick Everyone, People who follow you or People you follow back.
| Choice | Who can start a chat with you |
|---|---|
| Everyone | Anyone on Ayyam |
| People who follow you | Your followers |
| People you follow back | People who follow you and whom you follow too |
What it does
- People it leaves out see no Message button on your profile.
- If they try another way, like sending you a post, it doesn’t reach you.
- It only covers new chats. Someone you’ve already chatted with can keep writing. To stop them, open the chat, tap their name, and block them with Block messages only. See How do I block someone’s messages only?
- Making your account private doesn’t change it. With Everyone chosen, anyone can still start a chat with you.
There’s no separate folder for messages from people you don’t know. The ones this setting lets through go straight to your chats.