How Twitter’s new feature may finally ‘muzzle’ Kenyans on Twitter
Kenyans on Twitter aka KOT, who have penchant for waging virtual war on anyone who crosses their path, could soon find themselves ‘muzzled’.
This after Twitter began testing the ability for users to limit who can reply to their tweets.
INFAMOUS TWEEFS
The company on Wednesday announced that it is currently rolling out the feature to a small set of users and will likely offer it widely after the firm gathers feedback from the test group.
If and when this feature is finally rolled, Kenyans on Twitter may just find it a little harder to engage in their infamous tweefs with Nigerians, Ugandans, Tanzanians and South Africans.
Alternatively, the new feature may in the long run save users the trouble of blocking others users who they don’t want to reply to their tweets.
“Twitter is where you go to see and talk about what’s happening. But sometimes, unwanted replies make it hard to have meaningful conversations. (Ahem, reply guys.)” Twitter Director of Product Management Suzanne Xie said in a blog.
FEATURE’S OPTIONS
Initially, it was possible for anyone and everyone to reply to your tweet, including people you don’t follow or who don’t follow you.
But according to Twitter, the way the new feature works is that when users compose a tweet, they are presented with the option to select who they can let reply to the tweet.
The options include everyone, only the user’s followers, or just the users mentioned in the Tweet.
The limit on who replies does not affect who can see the tweet, as it will be available to all users.
The restrictions to replies also do not impact likes and retweets.
TAGGED USERS
The third option is ‘only people you mention’ which means only users tagged in a tweet will be able to respond to your tweet.
The ability to restrict tweet replies will help reduce abuse or offensive replies by unintended people.
It will also help curb conversations to only the users that the author intended to have interactions with.
The feature could also be used to hold a panel or fireside chat on Twitter. An organisation or influencer could mention a few people in a tweet and allow only them to reply, and create a conversation on the platform.
“People who can’t reply will still be able to view, retweet, retweet with comment and like these tweets,” Xie clarified in the blog.