Twitter is developing a new ‘don’t @ me’ tool that will allow you to manage who mentions you in their postings.
A mention occurs when a user’s ‘@’ handle is included in a tweet, which generates a link to their account and alerts them of the post and any subsequent replies.
By allowing individuals to ban communications from certain persons, the new tool might be used to prevent harassment and bullying.
According to an image shared by app researcher and engineer Jane Manchun Wong, users will be able to specify whether other accounts can mention them in a tweet.
They will have the option to restrict mentions to only users they are following, or to disable mentions entirely.
Several additional Twitter features are designed to grant users control over the conversations they participate in on the network.
Currently, users can restrict the accounts that can reply to their tweets to only those they mention or follow, or disable replies entirely.
In February, a ‘Safety Mode’ option was introduced that, when activated, automatically disables for seven days accounts that send nasty messages or repetitive answers.
A new feature was launched in July that allows users to “unmentioned” themselves from a Twitter conversation in which they have been tagged but do not wish to participate.
While the user’s handle is visible in the topic, it no longer ties to their account and they cannot be addressed in responses or receive notifications about the thread.
With the ‘Circle’ function, which was made available to everyone in August, users can restrict who can view their tweets to a certain group.
Circle enables users to create a group of up to 150 followers and choose, tweet-by-tweet, whether to post something publicly or privately.
This feature functions similarly to Instagram’s ‘Close Friends’ option, which allows users to choose whether or not to share their Stories with all of their followers.
Yesterday, Wong unveiled the forthcoming Mentions feature, which was later verified by Twitter privacy designer Dominic Camozzi in a now-deleted tweet.
A shared screenshot provides the user with the choice of allowing anybody to mention the account, which is the current default or restricting it to only people they follow.
There will also be the option to completely disable mentions.
Allowing Twitter users to restrict who can @ them would be a significant change to how the platform operates, preventing you from saying hello or pointing out anything to a stranger across the platform.
