Twitter in its official blog recently announced that it would be going to experiment with a new feature that enables users to hide replies to their tweets. Twitter was seen to be working on this experimental feature since February 2019 and a company representative confirmed that the feature would finally be rolling out publically in June this year.
This will be the very first time in 13 years that Twitter will allow users to have some control over replies to their tweets. Users can “Hide Replies” which they feel are inappropriate, instead of completely removing it from the conversation.
“Starting in June, we’ll be experimenting with ways to give people more control over their conversations by giving them an option to hide replies to their Tweets.”
The above announcement by the social media giant clearly states that the “Hide Tweets” feature will be on an experimentation mode as of now and can be tweaked or scrapped, based on how users react. As of now, its rival company Facebook allows their users to delete comments of other users from their posts. Currently, Twitter users do not have any control over replies posted by other users.
Why Is It Required ?
The idea is to enable users to hide replies from their tweets so as to maintain their conversations “healthy.”
Twitter had announced it last year itself that it will put in all efforts to make the platform free of abuse, spam and even to some extent trolls. It also mentioned that the platform is getting faster and better at restraining abusive behaviour and promotion of offensive content.
The announcement of the feature has created a difference in opinions among its users some say its a form of censorship, others in favour say that it will help keep trolls at bay. It must be noted that hiding tweets are a less extreme step than deleting them.
Now, only time will tell if the decision of bringing this feature will be helpful or not.