Twitter Rolls Out New 'Hide Replies' Feature to Users in U.S. and Japan

[MacRumors]

Twitter today rolled out its new "Hide Replies" feature in the U.S. and Japan, providing Twitter users with more control over the replies that are visible following a tweet.

The idea behind the feature is to give people more control over the conversations they start on the social media platform, so they can hide replies that are offensive and the hidden reply won't show up to others as a response to the original tweet.

The company has been experimenting the Hide Replies feature since June, and says it saw "a lot of positive trends" during its initial test in Canada.

According to Twitter, people with access to the feature mostly hide replies that they think are irrelevant, abusive or unintelligible. It also found that people were more likely to reconsider their interactions when their tweet was hidden.

To mitigate concerns that hiding someone's reply could be misunderstood and potentially lead to confusion or frustration, Twitter says it will ask the user if they want to also block that account.

As TechCrunch pointed out back in April, Hide Replies has the potential to be controversial because the original person who tweets will be able to control which replies are visible in a conversation thread. However, Twitter is more interested its potential for good, as noted in its blog post:

These are positive and heartening results: the feature helped people have better conversations, and was a useful tool against replies that deterred from the person's original intent.

We're interested to see if these trends continue, and if new ones emerge, as we expand our test to Japan and the US. People in these markets use Twitter in many unique ways, and we're excited to see how they might use this new tool.

The news follows several other features that have recently been trialed or rolled out on the social media platform, all with the aim of handing over more control to users and creating a "healthier service" by cutting down on abuse and harassment.

Article Link: Twitter Rolls Out New 'Hide Replies' Feature to Users in U.S. and Japan

 

[-Ray-]

How can I disable dark mode on Mac rumors. While I like the dark ui on the phone, I prefer light websites

 

[jhfenton]

How can I disable dark mode on Mac rumors. While I like the dark ui on the phone, I prefer light websites

If you click on your avatar at the top, you can go to preferences and choose the "Style": light, dark, or automatic.

I'm with you. I like dark mode on the phone, but most websites look better in light mode on a large monitor.

 

[mw360]

I wish they'd all just admit they made something awful and don't know how to fix it (without losing money).

 

[yanksfan114]

The political arena is going to have an aneurysm over this. I can see the potential upside of this blocking trolls and hateful replies but don’t they think it’ll also block actual discussion? I feel like if anyone doesn’t 100% agree with a tweet then they’ll get their replies hidden. At this point, it’s just the way Twitter is and I don’t know how they can help it.

 

[GreenPixel]

Yeah this is going to 100% be used to silence political dissent and further expand the echo chamber.

 

[decypher44]

The political arena is going to have an aneurysm over this. I can see the potential upside of this blocking trolls and hateful replies but don’t they think it’ll also block actual discussion? I feel like if anyone doesn’t 100% agree with a tweet then they’ll get their replies hidden. At this point, it’s just the way Twitter is and I don’t know how they can help it.

It’ll turn into a virtual echo chamber
[automerge]1568984770[/automerge]

Yeah this is going to 100% be used to silence political dissent and further expand the echo chamber.

Ha! Great minds...

 

[decypher44]

If you click on your avatar at the top, you can go to preferences and choose the "Style": light, dark, or automatic.

I'm with you. I like dark mode on the phone, but most websites look better in light mode on a large monitor.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem to work for the front page. Just forums.

 

[Khedron]

So people can post false information and hide/censor anyone who calls them out on their lies or conduct.

All the benefits of social media with even less accountability. Just what the internet needed.

Truly offensive tweets could already be reported.

 

[jhfenton]

Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem to work for the front page. Just forums.

For me, the front page is always in light mode on desktop browsers, regardless. Windows 10 in dark mode->light front page. iPadOS in dark mode->light front page. (But iPhone 13.1 beta in dark mode, dark front page.)

On all of the devices, the default forum setting was dark mode to match the device setting.

 

[charlituna]

Yeah this is going to 100% be used to silence political dissent and further expand the echo chamber.

Not really. Because you can speak dissent without it being in a reply and they can’t block it.
[automerge]1568993971[/automerge]

Truly offensive tweets could already be reported.

True. But it took time for them to be reviewed and then you had to deal with whether the reviewer felt it really broke the rules. And sometimes they didn’t even when you or I thought it should be obvious

 

[xdhd350]

Just another way for the blue check elites to be more elitist. I guess if they don’t bother reading replies, they won’t hide them either. Interesting scenario.

 

[boccabella]

This ridiculous idea will be scrapped by Monday morning with the usual ridiculous excuses as to how this was even suggested.