Twitter is working on a ‘don’t @ me’ feature that can limit who mentions a user in posts

Science
By William

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Twitter is working on an official ‘Don’t @ me’ feature: Users could soon be able to control who mentions them in posts

  • Twitter is working on a feature that will allow users to restrict their mentions
  • They will be able to limit who can mention their account to just those they follow
  • There will also be the option to turn off the ability to mention them entirely
  • This is the latest in a set of features that can prevent harassment through Twitter

By Fiona Jackson For Mailonline

Published: 12:39 BST, 14 October 2022 | Updated: 12:39 BST, 14 October 2022

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Twitter is working on a new ‘don’t @ me’ feature that will let you control who mentions you in posts. 

A mention is the inclusion of the an a user’s ‘@’ handle in a tweet, which generates a link to their account and notifies them of the post and any subsequent replies.

The new feature could be used to prevent harassment or bullying, by enabling those targeted to block messages from certain users. 

According to a screenshot leaked by app researcher and engineer Jane Manchun Wong, this will allow users to specify whether other accounts can mention them in a tweet.

They will have the option to limit the users who can mention them to just people they are following, or turn off mentions entirely.

According to a screenshot leaked by app researcher and engineer Jane Manchun Wong , this will allow users to specify if other accounts can mention theirs in a tweet. They will have the option to limit the users who can mention them to just people they are following, or turn off mentions entirely

According to a screenshot leaked by app researcher and engineer Jane Manchun Wong , this will allow users to specify if other accounts can mention theirs in a tweet. They will have the option to limit the users who can mention them to just people they are following, or turn off mentions entirely

Twitter has a number of other features designed to give users control over the conversations they are involved with on the platform

Twitter has a number of other features designed to give users control over the conversations they are involved with on the platform

Twitter has a number of other features designed to give users control over the conversations they are involved with on the platform

TWITTER’S CURRENT ANTI-HARASSMENT FEATURES 

  • Restrict who can reply to a tweet to just those mentioned in it, accounts you follow. You can also turn off replies completely.
  • ‘Safety Mode’ automatically blocks accounts that send you hateful or repetitive tweets for seven days.
  • Unmention yourself from a tweet if you do not want to be involved in a thread you are tagged in. 
  • Limit who can see your tweet to your ‘Circle’ – a select group of accounts chosen by you. 

Twitter has a number of other features designed to give users control over the conversations they are involved with on the platform.  

Currently, users are able to restrict the accounts that can reply to their tweet to just those that are mentioned or that they follow, or turn off replies entirely.

A ‘Safety Mode’ option was rolled out in February, that, when applied, automatically blocks accounts that send hateful messages or repetitive replies for seven days.

In July, another feature was introduced that allows users to ‘unmention’ themselves from a Twitter thread they are tagged in, but do not want to be a part of.

While the user’s handle is still visible in the thread, it no longer links to their account, nor can they be mentioned in any replies or receive notifications about it. 

Users can also limit who can view their tweet to a select group of people with the ‘Circle’ feature, which was made available to all in August.

Circle enables users to build a group of up to 150 followers, and choose on a tweet-by-tweet basis whether to post something publicly or just to the group.

This works in a similar way to the ‘Close Friends’ feature on Instagram, where users choose whether to share their Story with all their followers or just a select few.

The upcoming Mentions feature was revealed by Wong yesterday, and later confirmed by Twitter privacy designer Dominic Camozzi in a now-deleted tweet.

A shared screenshot gives the user the options of letting anyone mention the account – the current default – or restricting it to just those they follow.

There will also be the option of turning off mentions entirely.

Polite warnings on Twitter can help reduce hate speech by up to 20 percent, study finds 

Gently warning Twitter users that they might face consequences if they continue to use hateful language can have a positive impact, according to new research.

If the warning is worded respectfully, the change in tweeting behaviour is even more dramatic.

A team at New York University tested out various warnings to Twitter users they had identified as ‘suspension candidates’.

This meant they were following someone who had been suspended for violating the platform’s policy on hate speech.

Users who received these warnings generally declined in their use of racist, sexist, homophobic or otherwise prohibited language by 10 percent after receiving a prompt.

If the warning was couched politely—’I understand that you have every right to express yourself but please keep in mind that using hate speech can get you suspended’—the foul language declined up to 20 percent.

Read more here

 

 

Letting Twitter users limit who can @ them would be a pretty fundamental shift in how the platform works, making it so you may not be able to reach out across the platform to a stranger to say hi or point something out to them. 

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