Twitter is all set to introduce a new feature that will allow people to decide who can reply to their tweets. Currently, Twitter allows users to hide replies to tweets but the new feature will give users more control over what they see and also be helpful in addressing the long-running troll problem.
Suzanna Xie, Director of Product Management-Twitter revealed the new reply options at CES. The features will be tested in the first quarter of the year before launching it later this year. The new tool will consist of four options that users can select;
Global – Anybody can respond
Group - Allows replies from anyone mentioned in the tweet or a user’s follows
Panel - Allow replies from people mentioned
Statement – No replies are allowed
(Source: Techspot)
Being able to prevent people from replying to your tweet is an interesting feature that is likely to be used by most people.
Xie said that the company is exploring the option of retweets as well as the possibility of limiting replies can lead to misinformation.
For several years now, Twitter has been trying to deal with the harassment and bullying that happens on the platform. In July last year, it removed tweets that included language that “dehumanizes people on the basis of religion”.
An Amnesty International report, in 2018, that examined the abuse of women on the site led to short-seller labeling it “the Harvey Weinstein of social media”.
Xie also announced that new conversational features will also be added in the coming months including threading that will help put an entire conversation on “one screen”.
Twitter is also upgrading its topics and lists discovery features.