Innovation at the Tweeter Thing: Going in Circles?
September 29, 2022
It looks like Twitter may be infected with feature-it is, an unfortunate condition that afflicts most social-media platforms sooner or later. Gizmodo reports, “Twitter Circles Have Arrived, and Here’s How To Use Them.” Seemingly channeling the ghost of Google Plus, the tool allows users to restrict a tweet to a certain set of users. Writer David Nield tells us:
“Unlike the edit option, Circles isn’t exclusive to Twitter Blue subscribers, and everyone should be able to access the feature now (or in the very near future). The idea is that maybe you don’t want all of the friends, family, colleagues, strangers, bots and brand accounts that follow you on Twitter to see everything you post. Perhaps you want some tweets—your opinions on obscure folk music of the early 2000s, for example—to only reach a limited audience. That’s where Twitter Circles comes in, and the feature isn’t difficult to use. Unlike the Google Plus implementation, Twitter is only giving users one circle, at least for now. No doubt the hope is that it will get people to tweet more: Something private that you might have previously hesitated to share can now be posted to the timelines of a private and select group of people.”
Of course, boosting traffic is in Twitter’s best interests. We learn users cannot opt out of a Circle they’d like to avoid, unless they are willing to mute, block, or unfollow the sender. Again, no real surprise there. Nield describes how to use Twitter Circle on both mobile and desktop, complete with screenshots, so interested readers can see the write-up for those details.
Cynthia Murrell, September 30, 2022
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