Twitter introduces 'Hide Replies' feature globally for users to 'feel safe'

Twitter on November 21 introduced its new feature for people to 'Hide Replies' to their tweets. The company reportedly said that those replying on tweets could shift the topic or tone of a discussion and derail what they and their audience wanted to talk about. The new feature according to the company is a useful new way to manage the conversations. The Twitter user has the option to hide replies which may be offensive, hateful or racist in nature. The option of 'hide replies' rolled out globally on iOS, Android, Twitter Lite and twitter.com.

Suzanne Xie, the head product manager told an international media outlet that the move is a part of an effort to help users feel safe and comfortable while talking on the micro-blogging platform. She further added that the feature will let the user have more control over the conversation they start, however, users will still be able to see the entire conversation. The new feature was initially introduced in some countries but the testing showed that it is a useful tool for managing the back-and-forth exchanges tweets can inspire.

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Twitter exploring options

The company is still exploring more options around who can reply to or see specific conversations, and are further testing engagement changes to see if these lead to healthier discussions. Back in September the San Francisco-based company also began letting users hide away unwanted direct messages, providing a new tool to stymie abuse. Back in 2016, the company also started permitting Twitterati to get rid of, or mute, notifications based mostly on key phrases, phrases or total conversations they aren't curious about seeing within the effort to stem abusive feedback. According to an international media outlet, the company is also planning to launch a new 'hide replies endpoint' so developers can build additional conversation management tools.

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