Twitter has announced the launch of its new feature, Twitter Circle.
The tech giant described Twitter Circle as a: “way to send Tweets to select people, and share your thoughts with a smaller crowd.
“You choose who’s in your Twitter Circle, and only the individuals you’ve added can reply to and interact with the Tweets you share in the circle.”
With the feature, Twitter users now have the flexibility to choose who can see and engage with their content on a Tweet-by-Tweet basis. They can build connections with up to 150 other Twitter users on their own terms.
People within a Circle will see a green badge under Tweets sent to the group. They will be the only ones who would be able to view, reply, and interact with the Tweets shared in the Circle. Tweets within a Circle cannot be Retweeeted.
Twitter noted that giving people the option to share their thoughts to a select group of their followers makes Tweeting more accessible.
The new feature began testing in May and those using it have said it has helped personalise their experience on the platform, including:
• Feeling more comfortable Tweeting and expressing themselves
• Eliminating the need for alternate or secondary accounts
• Sharing content with a close and evolving group of friends
• Avoiding toggling between protected and public account settings
Some results from our Twitter Circle test include:
• Increased overall Tweeting
• Increased Tweet engagement rate on Circle Tweets (likes and replies)
The tech giant said they will continue to observe the new feature and explore ways to further improve it. The platform said: “We want Australians to be able to freely express their opinions while ensuring they are protected from harm.”
Twitter said they are committed to incorporating feedback from trusted partners and online safety experts, including the Twitter Trust & Safety Council, into the products and features they build.
These groups regularly emphasise the importance of online customisation tools in helping people express themselves freely online.
Other tools on Twitter that are aimed to enhance users’ Twitter experience are:
• Unmention:
Unlike muting a conversation or hiding replies, Unmention is a way for people to say “Don’t @ me,” without saying “Don’t @ me”. When someone does Unmention themselves, the people who have tried to mention them will see they’ve left the conversation and can’t be tagged again.
• Conversation settings:
• Conversation settings are one of the best ways for people to control their experience on Twitter – allowing them to proactively manage a conversation by choosing who can reply to a Tweet. Before Tweeting, people can choose who can reply with three options:
• Everyone (the standard on Twitter, and the default setting);
• Only people you follow; or
• Only people you mention.
• These settings can be changed after Tweeting and by using conversation settings, people can engage in more meaningful conversations while avoiding unwelcome replies.
• Remove followers:
• Sometimes, people want to stop a follower from seeing their Tweets without outrightly blocking them. With this feature, people can remove followers without them being alerted.
• Twitter’s new reporting process:
• The platform rolled out a new reporting process that makes it easier for people to report unhealthy and unwanted content on Twitter. This “symptoms-first” approach means Twitter collects more first-hand information so they can be more precise with addressing concerns at scale.
The redesigned process created a more empathetic experience for people reporting potential policy violations by asking them to describe what happened and by closing the loop to show which Twitter Rules applied to the report and why.
