Twitter is testing a new “unmentioning” feature that would allow them to remove themselves from conversations and make people unable to tag them in the future.
Twitter Safety unveiled their new idea in a tweet with a gif showing how they imagine it to work.
“How do you say ‘Don’t @ me,’ without saying ‘Don’t @ me’? We’re experimenting with Unmentioning—a way to help you protect your peace and remove yourself from conversations—available on Web for some of you now.”
How do you say “Don’t @ me,” without saying “Don’t @ me”?
We’re experimenting with Unmentioning—a way to help you protect your peace and remove yourself from conversations—available on Web for some of you now. pic.twitter.com/rlo6lqp34H
— Twitter Safety (@TwitterSafety) April 7, 2022
According to the gif, Twitter users will be able to “untag” themselves from the conversation, block people from future tags or stop notifications — all from within the tweet.
Twitter Safety did not include further details about the new feature, including any potential time frame for roll out.
The platform also recently announced that they are working on an edit function, which has long been the most requested update from users.
now that everyone is asking…
yes, we’ve been working on an edit feature since last year!
no, we didn’t get the idea from a poll 😉
we’re kicking off testing within @TwitterBlue Labs in the coming months to learn what works, what doesn’t, and what’s possible.
— Twitter Comms (@TwitterComms) April 5, 2022
Twitter’s Head of Consumer Product, Jay Sullivan, recently tweeted about the challenges and concerns of allowing users to edit their posts.
“Edit has been the most requested Twitter feature for many years. People want to be able to fix (sometimes embarrassing) mistakes, typos and hot takes in the moment. They currently work around this by deleting and tweeting again,” Sullivan wrote. “Without things like time limits, controls, and transparency about what has been edited, Edit could be misused to alter the record of the public conversation. Protecting the integrity of that public conversation is our top priority when we approach this work.”
3/ Without things like time limits, controls, and transparency about what has been edited, Edit could be misused to alter the record of the public conversation. Protecting the integrity of that public conversation is our top priority when we approach this work.
— Jay Sullivan (@jaysullivan) April 5, 2022
Sullivan continued, “Therefore, it will take time and we will be actively seeking input and adversarial thinking in advance of launching Edit. We will approach this feature with care and thoughtfulness and we will share updates as we go.”
“This is just one feature we are exploring as we work to give people more choice and control over their Twitter experience, foster a healthy conversation, and help people be more comfortable on Twitter. These are the things that motivate us every day,” Sullivan’s thread concluded.
Timcast has reached out to Twitter about a possible time frame for the unmentioning feature and will update this article if more information is provided.
