Twitter now lets you get rid of unnecessary replies from trolls

Normally, popular Tweets would result in many replies from unnecessary Twitter users. Sometimes they can be entertaining, but sometimes we would rather only have replies from people we follow. Now, you can use new settings which can help limit unwanted replies when it’s needed.

“Sometimes people are more comfortable talking about what’s happening when they can choose who can reply. Starting today, everyone will be able to use these settings so unwanted replies don’t get in the way of meaningful conversations,” wrote Twitter’s Director of Product Management Suzanne Xie.

How it works

Before you Tweet, you can choose who can reply with three options underneath the image section. The choices include everyone, people you follow, or only people you mention.

If you pick ‘Everyone’, it means that users—including users you don’t know—have the ability to reply to your Tweet. It is the usual Twitter standard, and if you don’t press an option it will automatically choose this option for you. This only applies if you have a public account.

If you pick ‘People you follow’, only the people you follow on Twitter will be able to reply to you. This ensures that mutual friends, or people you already know would be the only ones allowed to respond.

If you pick ‘Only people you mention’, even your mutual friends would be able to reply to your Tweet unless they are mentioned. However, People who can’t reply will still be able to view, Retweet, Retweet with Comment, share, and like these Tweets.

Here’s how these new features could benefit users:

• People will feel more comfortable Tweeting and more protected from spam and abuse.
• These settings have prevented an average of three potentially abusive replies while only adding one potentially abusive Retweet with Comment according to Twitter.
• Those who have submitted abuse reports are 3x more likely to use these settings.
• It’s a new method to block out noise, as 60% of people who used this during the test didn’t use Mute or Block.
• People are sharing more of their thoughts, including topics like Black Lives Matter and COVID-19. They could also have more sensitive conversations about politics and social issues.
• Those with a lot of followers use these settings to share more feelings, opinions, and personal news.
• People look for additional commentary a lot more when replies are limited.
• Differing views can still be shared with Retweets with Comments, which sometimes reach a larger audience than the original Tweet.

This feature mostly helps Twitter users with a lot more followers than the average Joe, as it can certainly help them feel more comfortable voicing out their opinions. Users like me, however, would probably not use this new addition to Twitter. Do let me know if you find the option useful.

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