Twitter is getting ready to test a new feature that will allow users to moderate the replies to their tweets, the company confirmed Thursday afternoon. The new feature would allow users to selectively hide replies to their tweets, but allow others to access these hidden replies.
“We already see people trying keep their conversations healthy by using block, mute, and report, but these tools don’t always address the issue,” said senior Twitter product manager Michelle Yasmeen Haq. “Block and mute only change the experience of the blocker, and report only works for the content that violates our policies.”
The feature was first unearthed by Jane Manchun Wong, who frequently finds unannounced features in apps from companies like Twitter and Facebook. Wong accompanied her latest find with a screenshot:
Haq said Thursday afternoon that Twitter was looking to keep conversations healthy while also allowing users to find critical comments that someone may want to hide: “We think the transparency of the hidden replies would allow the community to notice and call out situations where people use the feature to hide content they disagree with.”
Twitter plans to test the new feature “in the coming months,” according to Haq. Twitter product lead Kayvon Beykpour added in a tweet that the company was exploring multiple approaches to the problem, calling the soon-to-be tested feature “one of the solutions” the company was developing.