Twitter announced it has rolled out a new feature called ‘Unmentioning’, allowing users to leave conversations they have been mentioned in. This functionality has been rolled out to everyone on all devices, the social media platform tweeted today – having experimented with the system on Twitter for Web since April.
This is a particularly useful tool if you’ve ever been caught in an unsolicited Twitter storm and want to back out. Leaving a conversation will not only untag you from the offending tweet (preventing people from clicking through to your profile), but it will also cease all notifications regarding said tweet and prevent other users from tagging you in the future.
Using the ‘Unmentioning’ feature couldn’t be simpler – just tap on the three dots on the top right corner of the tweet and select “Leave this conversation”. You will then be taken to a confirmation page telling you what this step will do, as outlined above. It also mentions that no one will be notified if you leave, letting you bid your stealthy retreat.
Twitter has recently stepped up its focus on user safety as it aims to curb abuse and harassment on its platform. The service has been nudging people to reconsider their replies to tweets if it detects offensive language; the company said this has made English-language users in the US change or delete their replies 30% of the time. It also initiated a wider rollout of its Safety Mode (a feature that blocks abusive and spammy accounts for seven days) in February, following a trial run that began in September.
