Twitter Adding 'Conversation Participants' Option to Limit Replies to Tweets

[MacRumors]

At CES, Twitter's director of product management Suzanne Xie outlined some new features that are coming to the social network, and The Verge has shared details on what we can expect.

In the future, Twitter will add a "conversation participants" option on the screen where a tweet is composed. Twitter users will be able to choose between four options: Global, Group, Panel, and Statement.

The Global feature will let anyone reply, while Group will limit replies to people a Twitter user follows and mentions. Panel will allow people specifically mentioned in a tweet to reply, and Statement will presumably disable replies all together.

As The Verge points out, this will allow Twitter users to limit the spread of their tweets with a middle ground between public and private.

Twitter is also planning to add a specific conversation view that puts all of a conversation on a single screen, making it easy to sort through different tweets and their replies.

Other features in the works include list display customization, prompts for following topics, and options to make it easier to find lists.

There's no word on when these new features might come to Twitter, but the conversation participants option is slated to be added this year.

Article Link: Twitter Adding 'Conversation Participants' Option to Limit Replies to Tweets

 

[dannyyankou]

I like the group options, but the “Statement” one is the Twitter equivalent of disabling comments on Youtube.

 

[coolfactor]

"Group Participants" : "Statement"

Yah, that makes a lot of sense!

 

[itsmilo]

And still no edit within a minute feature

 

[now i see it]

the anti-social network

 

[Twinsbb17]

Twitter rolling out features to appease the ❄❄❄ community. It’s bad enough website and forums already crack down on this sort of stuff, now Twitter is joining the chorus of protecting those who can’t handle criticisms, other points of view, etc.

 

[CarlJ]

Cool, because Twitter didn't have enough of an echo chamber effect before.

 

[PhoenixDown]

I guess this cannot apply to politicians given the court rulings around that?

 

[179202]

Twitter rolling out features to appease the ❄❄❄ community. It’s bad enough website and forums already crack down on this sort of stuff, now Twitter is joining the chorus of protecting those who can’t handle criticisms, other points of view, etc.

Very ironic that you've been triggered by this 😂😂😂 you ok ❄❄❄?
[automerge]1578511703[/automerge]

 

[decisions]

Glad to have deleted Twitter a long time ago. Changes likes this will just make it an even worse discussion platform.

 

[Twinsbb17]

Very ironic that you've been triggered by this 😂😂😂 you ok ❄❄❄?
[automerge]1578511703[/automerge]

I didn’t know I was triggered by this, but emoji away!

 

[house13um]

The terminology Twitter has elected to use is confusing. I feel like it would be both easier to understand and more in line with other social network platforms to have the option titles reflect the options themselves and not the nature of the post.

 

[benshive]

I guess this cannot apply to politicians given the court rulings around that?

I would hope not. A politician could make a point to follow only people that shower him or her with praise, select the "Group" option, and then have all of their Twitter threads make it look like everyone loves them.

 

[adammusic]

I like this.
Useful.

 

[dannyyankou]

And still no edit within a minute feature

If I tweet something and 1,000 people retweet it, then I edit it to say something malicious, that malicious tweet is on 1,000 people’s timelines.

 

[Seanm87]

Am I the only one that thinks twitter having better privacy is a good thing?

 

[Rogifan]

Twitter rolling out features to appease the ❄❄❄ community. It’s bad enough website and forums already crack down on this sort of stuff, now Twitter is joining the chorus of protecting those who can’t handle criticisms, other points of view, etc.

I’ve heard people complain about the quote tweet feature because they feel it allows people to just be snarky and not have to engage someone directly. I use that all the time so I hope it never goes away. Twitter is a cesspool of garbage though. Someone posts something completely innocuous, not political or inflammatory in any way and the replies to it are just garbage. I don’t know why twitter has that problem when something like Instagram really doesn’t. Is it because Twitter allows people to be anonymous?

If I tweet something and 1,000 people retweet it, then I edit it to say something malicious, that malicious tweet is on 1,000 people’s timelines.

I think there should be a limited edit feature to correct misspellings/bad auto correct. Perhaps something where you have a limited amount of time after a tweet is posted to correct it. Or something that shows what was corrected. Misspellings and honest mistakes should be allowed to be corrected. But a blanket edit feature that allows someone to change something offensive or intentionally false so as to pretend it was never posted is wrong. That’s why I think the delete feature shouldn’t exist. At least not allowing to delete after a certain time period.

 

[CarlJ]

I would hope not. A politician could make a point to follow only people that shower him or her with praise, select the "Group" option, and then have all of their Twitter threads make it look like everyone loves them.

What you (and I) see as an unfortunate outcome I suspect many politicians (and other highly visible people) will see as a definite plus. I expect this will become standard operating procedure for a bunch of politicians (and others).

 

[Wanted797]

So people can make a false and stupid statements and have no replies to contend with their little world view bubble.

I have twitter and I want to like it but man it’s hard.

 

[CarlJ]

If I tweet something and 1,000 people retweet it, then I edit it to say something malicious, that malicious tweet is on 1,000 people’s timelines.

I've made the same argument before (tweet "retweet if you like puppies", then edit to "retweet if you like Hitler"), but the OP was specifically suggesting a very small time window for editing. This would cut down on mischief somewhat (hard to get 1K retweets in the first minute), but, yeah, still plenty of opportunity for abuse.

Then again, editing within a limited 60 second window would likely lead to people making mistakes in the edit too (followed by "well, we need a 60 second window for editing the edited tweet, rinse/repeat), and, if it's within a minute of posting? Just copy the tweet, delete the original tweet, and re-post an edited copy. Not _that_ many people will have seen the original.

 

[newyorksole]

So people can make a false and stupid statements and have no replies to contend with their little world view bubble.

I have twitter and I want to like it but man it’s hard.

I absolutely love Twitter. Been using it since 2008. Took a break in 2013, but went back a couple years later because it’s just too good Lol.

It’s a GIANT cesspool, but I’m glad I follow the right people. Some people I follow strictly because their opinions are strange. Gotta see the whole spectrum.

Tons of humorous material on there.

 

[makr]

Twitter rolling out features to appease the ❄❄❄ community. It’s bad enough website and forums already crack down on this sort of stuff, now Twitter is joining the chorus of protecting those who can’t handle criticisms, other points of view, etc.

I disagree, some people hear vile words and horrible accuses on Twitter, especially that is related to some sensitive issues, like family member passing away or some crimes against humanity etc.
I'm glad they now have a chance to shut down some foul mouths.

 

[JosephAW]

Let me tweet this globally.

 

[MadeTheSwitch]

No thanks. Too complicated, and too stifiling of free speech.

 

[siri_3005]

Glad to know they're adding a feature that nobody asked for and taking away free speech, meaning that people could no longer @ a company and criticize them for a bad product or service.