“The micro-blogging platform has announced a new feature called ‘hide replies’ that allows users to control the visibility of the tweet”
Twitter has started testing a new and much-awaited feature called “hide replies” to its platform. The feature will allow users to control the visibility of a tweet that is irrelevant or outright offensive in a conversation. It will most likely tone down trollers from passing insulting remarks to others. The option to hide replies is initially available only to Twitterati in Canada and will likely be available for all users worldwide in coming times.
You asked for more control over your conversations, so starting next week we’re testing a new feature in Canada that will let you hide replies to your Tweets.
— Twitter Canada (@TwitterCanada) July 11, 2019
For transparency, viewers everywhere can see hidden replies by going to a new icon or the dropdown menu. pic.twitter.com/qM8osT7Eah
The “hide replies” feature will be present at the top-right corner of the tweet within the arrow icon. Click on it and select “Hide replies” option and you are good to go. The feature should not be confused with ‘deleting a tweet.’ The hidden replies keep the tweet behind an icon – they are not removed from Twitter entirely – and if people want to see the replies, they can press the icon.
“We’re testing a feature to hide replies from conversations. This experience will be available for everyone around the world, but at this time, only people in Canada can hide replies to their Tweets…” said Twitter in a statement. “(Replies) will be hidden from the main conversation for everyone behind a new icon. As long as it hasn’t been deleted and/or is not from an account with protected Tweets, everyone can still interact with a hidden reply by clicking the icon to view.”
While the new “hide replies” option has its benefits, this change is not without significant downsides. A user may hide a reply that attempts to correct misinformation or offer a fact check. Twitter will have to address this concern of the public before making the feature available worldwide.
