Twitter has begun testing new reply controls for better conversations on its platform. This feature has been received with mixed reactions – some saying it will be helpful in fighting trolls and reply guys and others criticising the feature.
Here are some thoughts shared on Twitter:
This could be one of the most effective ways to stop unwanted harassment & trolling on twitter ! #win https://t.co/iO0pvNK9I2
— Vijay Shekhar Sharma (@vijayshekhar) May 20, 2020
One of the best parts of twitter is the ability to reply & connect with people you’d never be able to IRL. This is an unfortunate solution to a different problem tho. If Twitter enforced its community standards, you wouldn’t have to limit core/unique interaction https://t.co/160qe165aj
— Matt Kiser (@Matt_Kiser) May 20, 2020
This feature will fundamentally change Twitter forever.
💆 For most, it’ll be the reprive they’ve long awaited.
🚫 For many, it will make it even harder to join the community and make Twitter an isolating place.
📣 For some, it will be a powerful tool to silence dissent. https://t.co/p1pr5a1RS6
— William Wolf (@willium) May 20, 2020
Imagine the class war if “blue ticks only” was an option. https://t.co/uNLYFvmO78
— James O'Malley (@Psythor) May 20, 2020
in order to protect blue checks from getting ratioed, we will tighten the filter bubbles https://t.co/tnNWrx1buN
— skooks (@skooks) May 20, 2020
https://twitter.com/mims/status/1263205279640018945
I've seen this being used already, and it's pretty frustrating, and will do more to provoke angry sentiment around here https://t.co/XMfXl3jN15
— Dave Lee (@DaveLeeBBG) May 20, 2020
the thing I don't get is why anyone thinks it's well-intentioned when quote tweets are still allowed. It's fairly simple, Twitter has a version of interaction that it prefers you would use. and it's the *worst one they've ever invented*
— Richard Lawler (@rjcc) May 20, 2020
soooo close to getting my dream twitter feature pic.twitter.com/hA1PxNIJoh
— elaine filadelfo (@ElaineF) May 20, 2020
https://twitter.com/EylonALevy/status/1263196174531604481
This is bad. One of the great democratising positives of twitter is the ability of people across all levels of influence to interact. https://t.co/PfM0ogFmt6
— Marcus Walker (@WalkerMarcus) May 20, 2020
This sounds like a game changer https://t.co/bUWJkBcan2
— Stefano Zanero (@raistolo) May 20, 2020
Twitter is now allowing users to choose who can reply to their tweets by selecting one of three options: everyone, only people you follow, or only people you mention.
This seems like it’s mostly a bandaid to avoid dealing with the underlying problems.https://t.co/X0Oobu5QTn
— Caroline Orr Bueno, Ph.D (@RVAwonk) May 20, 2020
Twitter: we have a fake news problem
Twitter: let’s solve this by letting accounts prevent people from fact checking them in the replies! https://t.co/ljg4OOLZ0u
— maya⁷ 🌤 (@ivorybIossoms) May 20, 2020
now im wondering how people will react once Trump starts blocking replies to his tweets
— Gene Park (@GenePark) May 20, 2020
Twitter is getting the word out about its new feature by trolling its entire user base. Fitting! pic.twitter.com/v36QtUj0QE
— Alex Kantrowitz (@Kantrowitz) May 20, 2020
The problem with this particular use case (no-reply tweets) is my mentions are now full of people using quote tweets to reply to it. cc @kayvz @jack https://t.co/MrF8tuJdgH
— Martin SFP Bryant (@MartinSFP) May 20, 2020
Tweets one can't reply to? How about tweets that cannot be quoted?!?! Quote-tweets are occasionally okay but they are generally the worst aspect of this site and why I sometimes delete tweets (out-of-context quotes leading to stupidity and waste of time).
— zeynep tufekci (@zeynep) May 20, 2020
https://twitter.com/mims/status/1263152588633124867
https://twitter.com/backlon/status/1263202549617750016
Unemployment claims are gonna spike this week now that reply guys are unemployed.
— Yashar Ali 🐘 (@yashar) May 20, 2020
https://twitter.com/hallstephenj/status/1263148037146324992
https://twitter.com/mrsmcglover/status/1263154411959750656
Dunno why they can’t have a feature that deletes all the shit replies to my tweets but keeps all my good replies to other people’s tweets. https://t.co/uIafZ54mlz
— Tom Hamilton (@thhamilton) May 20, 2020
https://twitter.com/TaylorLorenz/status/1263153090569658370
https://twitter.com/CaseyNewton/status/1263153101378162688
Alright a serious question for @jack: what happens when POTUS and other politicians + public figures turn off replies or limit replies to people they follow?
Gone would be harassers and trolls, but at the potential cost of curtailing free speech/public discourse. https://t.co/VtWy9CbpKH
— Alex Konrad (@alexrkonrad) May 20, 2020
https://twitter.com/mmasnick/status/1263217992164245504
https://twitter.com/danlesac/status/1263224996236857344
Twitter excels at creating echo chambers. In this case, literally! It continues to see itself as a broadcast platform for celebrities. And creating product features such as quote tweets that let people gang-up on others.
(nothing on Hunter – he's a good follow!) https://t.co/9vvpZFS9dw— Subrahmanyam KVJ (@SuB8u) May 20, 2020
https://twitter.com/mmasnick/status/1263219353408831488
https://twitter.com/soulsgloss/status/1263152194645262336
This is bad. One of the great democratising positives of twitter is the ability of people across all levels of influence to interact. https://t.co/PfM0ogFmt6
— Marcus Walker (@WalkerMarcus) May 20, 2020
https://twitter.com/ibogost/status/1263213251929743374
