Twitter Might Limit Who Can Reply To Tweets Soon

Twitter is testing new conversation settings that will allow users to limit who will be able to reply to their tweets.

Social media site Twitter has announced that it is testing a “new way to have a convo with exactly who you want.” The feature allows users to choose who will be allowed to reply to their tweet before it is posted, and ensures healthy conversations in the platform.

Suzanne Xie, Twitter's director for product management, explained that the feature is designed to help users achieve meaningful conversations. It's currently being tested by a small number of users globally, and will rollout to all users once testing succeeds. Here's how the feature works:

Twitter users will see a “Conversation Participants” option in the same window where they write their tweets. Tapping or clicking on it before posting allows users to choose who they will give permission to reply to their tweet. The options include “everyone,” “people you follow,” and “only people you mention.”

• “Everyone” is the traditional Twitter setting. It allows anybody to reply to the user's tweet, whether the user likes it or not.
• “People you follow” limits replies to whoever the Twitter user follows.
• “Only people you mention” limits replies to the Twitter users specifically mentioned in the user's tweet.

Tweets made using the second and third setting will be labeled accordingly for users to see. Tweets made using the third setting, for example, will have a sentence that reads “@ People they mentioned can reply” beneath the tweet.

The reply button will also be grayed out for those who are not allowed to reply. Those who try to tap or click on a grayed out reply button will be greeted with a message box that explicitly tells users that they can't reply, gives an explanation for it, and gives users the option to see the conversation or close it.

Those who are not allowed to reply, however, will still be able to see the tweets, Like it Retweet it, or Retweet with Comment.

This is but one of the new features that the people behind Twitter have introduced or tested in recent months. The social media platform recently tested a new threaded conversation layout and the option to see Retweets with Comments in one place.