Johannesburg - Twitter has finally made its reply feature available to all users, giving users more control over their conversations across the platform.
In May, IOL Tech reported that Twitter was testing out a new feature that would allow users to choose who can reply to their tweets. Before posting a tweet, users will be able to select one of three options: everyone (default setting), only people you follow, or only people you mention.
Tweets with the latter two settings will be labelled and the reply icon will be greyed out to make it clear for people that they can’t reply and those who can’t reply will still be able to view, Retweet, Retweet with Comment, and like the Tweets.
Before the feature became available to all the users the company selected a group of people globally to test the new feature.
“Sometimes people are more comfortable talking about what's happening when they can choose who can reply. We’ve seen people use these settings to have conversations that weren't really possible before. Starting today, everyone will be able to use these settings so unwanted replies don’t get in the way of meaningful conversations,” said Director of Product Management at Twitter Suzanne Xie in a post.
Xie added that since they have been testing the feature, people have used it to host interviews, share what’s on their minds, and make announcements.
“We’ve learned a lot from usage, feedback interviews, and surveys. These settings help some people feel safer and could lead to more meaningful conversations, while still allowing people to see different points of view,” she said.
The reply feature is available on iOS, Android, and Desktop.
IOL TECH