Twitter is testing groups and safe mode | Technique

Twitter has begun the beta phase of several developments that seek to promote “healthy conversations” among users and reduce bullying. Communities will allow users to create or join groups of people with interests similar to yours. In the first version, they can participate only if they receive an invitation. In addition, users will have the ability to post tweets that only reach members of that community, rather than all of their followers, and they will be able to be part of several groups at the same time. These communities will have moderators, as is already the case in Facebook groups or Reddit, a network of thousands of communities each with their own rules.

The social network is also a safe way for users to feel “more comfortable” when composing their tweets. When a verbal attack occurs, for example, its algorithms will analyze the interaction between the respective users and, depending on whether it is a single event or not, will block the attacking user. In addition, the company is also facing a soft block (soft lock), so that You can remove your chosen followers from your followers without notifying them. Until now, there was only the possibility of blocking in the strict sense of the word and a blocked user could see if they were looking at the other person’s profile.

With safe mode, the locks will be temporary and will last for seven days. Of course, Twitter heals in health: “We can make mistakes, so safe mode automatic locks can be seen and undo at any time in your settings,” he acknowledged on his official blog.

Over the next several months, Twitter will be assessing the experience of several volunteers with new updates. At the moment, users will be able to join communities by invitation only, but they will also have the option to create groups themselves: about dogs, football club or vintage photography. Each new member of the community will have five invitations to submit through direct messages, although group creators will have them without limits.

Once they are part of a community, members will be able to post Tweets dedicated to that group only, but that doesn’t mean that conversations are private: any user of the network will be able to see them, though only those who are part of the group can interact. The company insists that the communities will be moderated by users.

This type of grouping is already on Facebook, although the invites in Mark Zuckerberg’s own are for secret or unseen groups. In addition to this method, Facebook users can choose between creating a private or public group and can belong to a limited number, unlike the lack of restrictions imposed by Twitter.

Among the updates that Twitter is preparing, there are also super follow o”Premium Followers”, to promote exclusive content to fans, who through this initiative will also become subscribers to the platform. Currently, the tariffs envisaged in the United States are 2.99, 4.99 or $9.99 per month. In addition, content creators or influencers They will be able to interact with their followers in a simpler way, by recognizing “super followers” ​​thanks to the subscription banners.

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