How can you send direct messages to people on twitter?

[Smileymileyfan8]

I can type the message but I can't put a person in the little blank!

[ig4mer]

I think the problem is you can't send a direct message to a person who isn't following you.

If you want to send a tweet to a specific person, use the @ tag. For example if you want to send a tweet specifically to me you would write @ig4mer Your message here. Note this tweet would be in your public stream unless you set your account private which mean anyone can read your tweet.