Twitter is testing a new feature, Twitter Circle, which would allow users to ‘select people’ to view their tweets.
The feature would allow you to select a group of people (friends and family) to view tweets as private instead of public.
However, this is coming during the ongoing acquisition between Elon Musk and Twitter.
More products that the platform would be featuring are still testing like the edit button that allows users to make corrections to tweets.
Although there has been criticism against the leak, this does not stop Twitter from testing more products.
Twitter however would be testing the product on a limited amount of people.
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What is a Twitter circle like?
The feature, Twitter circle is close to Instagram’s Close friend feature which allows you to select a close group of friends that can view your story privately. It is also similar to Google Plus or the options of WhatsApp that enable you to select who can view your status.
In Twitter’s case, it would allow a user to select 150 people to join their circle. It could include their followers or non-followers. For occasions when they feel like tweeting without sharing to the masses, they can use the ‘Choose Audience’ menu while writing a tweet.
Then they can select the Twitter Circle option instead of Everyone.
Interestingly, the feature is very similar to Twitter communities which also hide tweets away from the public except those tied to a particular discussion.
Unlike Twitter Circle which hides normal tweets from to public except your circle.
Twitter Circle helps users ensure privacy to an extent and makes you comfortable to share tweets knowing the individuals viewing the tweet.
Also, the feature could be compared to a private account that allows only people who they approve of to view their tweets.
But in this case, a person doesn’t need to make their account private and they can still have restrictions.
Also, just like a locked account people won’t be able to use the retweet icon to share your tweet automatically.
However, they can use download options and screenshots.
Other things you need to know about using Twitter’s Circle
According to Twitter, the Twitter rules will still apply to users of Twitter Circle even though the public can’t see their tweets.
So they can still face the consequences for going against Twitter’s rules.
Also, Twitter has said that users who would be selected for the testing will have access to create only one circle on the Twitter circle.
And they would be able to see the list of people in their circle.
The testing would be available on all platforms (Android, iOS and Website).
For those added to a circle, they would be able to see private tweets and they can decide to mute notifications of discussion in a circle.
But the down part is that they cannot remove themself from a circle, which might later lead to criticism if the update is released to the public.
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