Twitter starts testing the ability to restrict replies to tweets
Twitter has announced that it will add labels and warning messages on some tweets with disputed or misleading information about Covid-19, as part of a new approach to misinformation that will eventually extend to other topics. PHOTO | FILE | FOTOSEARCH
What you need to know:
- The options include everyone, only the user’s followers, or just the users mentioned in the Tweet.
- The limit on who replies does not affect who can see the tweet, as it will be available to all users.
- The restrictions to replies also do not impact likes and retweets.
Twitter is testing the ability for users to limit who can reply to their tweets.
The company on Wednesday announced that it is currently rolling out the feature to a small set of users and will likely offer it widely after the firm gathers feedback from the test group.
Kenyans on Twitter, popularly known as #KOT are set to find it hard when battling Nigerians, Tanzanians, and South Africans once it comes in to effect.
According to Twitter, before a user Tweets, there will be three options: everyone, only people you follow, and only people you mention.
“Twitter is where you go to see and talk about what’s happening,” twitter Director of Product Management Suzanne Xie said in a blog.
Adding, “But sometimes, unwanted replies make it hard to have meaningful conversations. (Ahem, reply guys.).”
Initially, it was possible for anyone and everyone to reply to your tweet, including people you don’t follow or who don’t follow you.
THE OPTIONS
The way that the feature works is that when users compose a tweet, they are presented with the option to select who they can let reply to the tweet.
The options include everyone, only the user’s followers, or just the users mentioned in the Tweet.
The limit on who replies does not affect who can see the tweet, as it will be available to all users.
The restrictions to replies also do not impact likes and retweets.
The third option is ‘only people you mention’ which means only users tagged in a tweet will be able to respond to your tweet.
The ability to restrict tweet replies will help reduce abuse or offensive replies by unintended people.
It can also help curb conversations to only the users that the author intended to have interactions with.
The feature could also be used to hold a panel or fireside chat on Twitter. An organisation or influencer could mention a few people in a tweet and allow only them to reply, and create a conversation on the platform.
“People who can’t reply will still be able to view, retweet, retweet with comment and like these tweets," the blog post clarified. It’s unclear why Twitter isn’t ready to roll out the feature to all users right now.
The company had rolled out a new layout for how threads are displayed earlier this month, adding lines and indentations to define the conversation flow better.
According to Twitter, only a limited group of people globally on Twitter for iOS, Android, and twitter.com can Tweet with these settings, but everyone can see these conversations.
