Twitter is letting users hide replies to their tweets in an attempt to keep harmful harassment on the platform from derailing conversation.
The platform announced the move in a blog post they shared Thursday.
"Everyone should feel safe and comfortable while talking on Twitter. To make this happen, we need to change how conversations work on our service. Currently, repliers can shift the topic or tone of a discussion and derail what you and your audience want to talk about," they wrote. "To give you more control over the conversations you start, we tested the option for you to hide replies to your Tweets. We learned that the feature is a useful new way to manage your conversations. Today, we’re making this available to everyone globally."
Users will have the option to view hidden replies, according to Twitter, who said preliminary tests have received positive feedback. Outside of the new reply option, Twitter is planning other changes to the platform in 2020 to encourage better conversations. VP of Design Dantley Davis revealed that the company is working on features that would allow conversations to be shared in smaller groups and directly to followers of certain hashtags. He said that blocking retweets, removing yourself from conversations, and better control of mentions were also in the works.
