Twitter has announced that from today users can selectively hide replies to their tweets – a “feature” that could be used by Twitter users who are getting ratioed to hide the negative feedback and tweets that they don’t want others to see.
Hidden replies will be placed behind a small icon and invisible to most Twitter users. These replies will only be visible to Twitter users that tap this icon to reveal the hidden replies.
https://twitter.com/twitter/status/1197551185894559744
Not only does the change allow people who are getting ratioed to effectively disappear the most viral replies but it’s likely to reduce overall engagement on the platform.
The announcement comes as Twitter continues to make changes to its platform that drive down user engagement to “improve the health of the public conversation on Twitter” – a goal that the company has described as its “highest priority.” Twitter shares have plummeted by almost a fifth since announcing this priority.
Some of these other changes include Twitter blocking likes, retweets, and replies on some tweets from world leaders and Twitter running tests that suggest replies to users. In 2020, Twitter also plans to let users ban retweets and mentions on their tweets.
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