Twitter says a “conversation participants” compose screen tool is coming in 2020, letting users limit who can reply, and conversation threading will improve
although, isn't that the point of private accounts? For political/public figure persons, entities, networks, or corporations it's certainly the wrong way forward. https://twitter.com/... @chelseacirruzzo : when this feature arrives I am going to pit my reply guys against each other in a battle of loyalty to decide who will stay and who will be blocked from replying https://twitter.com/... Jack Posobiec / @jackposobiec : So, Facebook then https://twitter.com/... @realbarabbas : So what happens when @senrobportman's staff start blocking our replies like they block our incoming calls. https://twitter.com/... Chad Loder / @chadloder : I have a bad feeling this will lead to a lot more quote-tweeting and fragmented conversations. https://twitter.com/... Needlessly Obscenity-Laced / @randileeharper : This is bad and will make abuse harder to track/prevent. If people can't respond to a tweet, they will @ you directly. Instead, why not fix the bug with muted conversations? https://twitter.com/... Anil Dash / @anildash : These are good controls that will make conversations work better while cutting back on abuse. We know this because LiveJournal had these features 20 years ago, and despite influencing Twitter's creation, these capabilities were omitted. https://twitter.com/... jonhendrenPeaceful / @fart : people will just screenshot shit and make their own threads. this is useless. someday Twitter should hire people who actually have used Twitter https://twitter.com/... Casey Newton / @caseynewton : I suspect most people will never use this feature. (I can't imagine using it much myself.) There will still be plenty of conversation on Twitter. But it should offer much-needed protection to the platform's most vulnerable users @cryptunez : rip to ratios, the only thing that made this app bearable https://twitter.com/... Neeraj K. Agrawal / @neerajka : This is also a good way to make sure only people who agree with you reply to you https://twitter.com/... Ashley Mayer / @ashleymayer : But who will explain my jokes to me?!??!! https://twitter.com/... James Ball / @jamesrbuk : If it's limiting the ability to *receive* replies to that group, rather than just to *see* them, this is a fundamental change to the underlying platform. Interesting: could be great for abuse/harassment but limits serendipity, could fuel filter bubbles and misinformation bubbles https://twitter.com/... @libbycwatson : every week I will nominate one person who is allowed to reply to my tweets. that person will have the important task of representing the overall sentiment and will of the people in replying either “lol” or “hmm not it” to my tweets https://twitter.com/... Paul Kedrosky / @pkedrosky : Today in Relative Velocities Seem Huge When You Started at Zero: “Twitter has “picked up the pace” of product development and hopes to continue that pace” https://www.theverge.com/... @swiftonsecurity : Now I can stop you all replying to my deleted tweets https://twitter.com/...
The VergeDieter Bohn
Context & Ripple Effects
This announcement is the second step in a moderation arc Twitter had been building since 2019: first the option to hide a tweet's replies, announced alongside a tripling of abusive-account suspensions, and now an author-side control at the compose screen itself. By May 2020 the company was already testing the reply-limiting options — Everyone, People You Follow, Only People You Mention — so this January reveal set expectations that shipped within months.
First-order effects
Tweet authors gain a pre-post control over their audience: political figures and brands can restrict replies to followers or mentions only, changing who is heard in their threads the moment the tool ships.
Users whose replies get filtered lose visibility into conversations they were previously part of by default — the reaction quoted in the coverage, including Jack Posobiec's 'So, Facebook then', frames this as Twitter adopting a more closed, Facebook-like posting model.
Second-order effects
Criticism migrates to quote tweets, which remain open even when replies are limited — meaning the feature reshapes where pushback happens rather than eliminating it, and makes quote-tweet volume a new signal of contested posts.
As the OneZero analysis of the tested version argued, the same control that curbs harassment lets officials and corporations shut down criticism, raising pressure on Twitter to distinguish protective use from evasive use.
Third-order effects
If author-set audience controls become standard, moderation responsibility shifts from platform enforcement toward individual posters deciding who may speak in their space — a structural change to how public discourse on Twitter is bounded.
The pattern points toward tiered conversation norms on social platforms generally: default-open timelines giving way to opt-in audiences, with platforms competing on how much conversational control they hand to creators and institutions.
The trend: Twitter is moving conversation governance from platform-level enforcement to author-controlled settings, one reply filter at a time.
Twitter says you'll have the option to receive replies *only from people you follow.* Could solve a lot of abuse and harassment issues in one fell swoop https://twitter.com/...
Twitter will add 4 settings on who can reply to your tweets. • Global lets anyone reply • Group is for people you follow & mention • Panel is people you specifically mention in the tweet • Statement allows you to post a tweet and no one can reply https://www.theverge.com/...
This is a great idea for private citizens that don't want to be made famous by outrage mobs. It will also be abused by public figures on all sides to hide disagreement/counter narrative https://twitter.com/...
Riiiiight, to limit troll accounts...sure 🙄🤦♀️ This is Twitter making echo chambers more impenetrable, so war propagandists can back-slap one another without allowing intelligent voices to poke holes in their lies. https://mashable.com/...
As a product person, I'm really impressed by this @twitter announcement. not only will it fix a lot of the troll issues, but it will also create millions of micro-panels/groups. This is going to be fun.. great product move, well-thought-out, @jack https://www.theverge.com/...
Overall this is probably the right move for Twitter although I worry it will reduce social serendipity and number of relationships formed on the platform, particularly for those less connected. https://techcrunch.com/...
This feature will revolutionize Twitter and clean it up. No longer will trolls be able to hijack someone's feed to spew their nonsense. They will have to rely on their own feed (usually less than 50 followers). Bravo @Twitter https://www.theverge.com/...
It's amazing to see what amazing shapes @twitter is willing to contort itself into just to avoid kicking out nazis. Don't @ me. https://techcrunch.com/...
What an awful, misguided idea. It could probably work nicely for everyday personal accounts, & make sense there — although, isn't that the point of private accounts? For political/public figure persons, entities, networks, or corporations it's certainly the wrong way forward. htt…
when this feature arrives I am going to pit my reply guys against each other in a battle of loyalty to decide who will stay and who will be blocked from replying https://twitter.com/...
This is bad and will make abuse harder to track/prevent. If people can't respond to a tweet, they will @ you directly. Instead, why not fix the bug with muted conversations? https://twitter.com/...
These are good controls that will make conversations work better while cutting back on abuse. We know this because LiveJournal had these features 20 years ago, and despite influencing Twitter's creation, these capabilities were omitted. https://twitter.com/...
people will just screenshot shit and make their own threads. this is useless. someday Twitter should hire people who actually have used Twitter https://twitter.com/...
I suspect most people will never use this feature. (I can't imagine using it much myself.) There will still be plenty of conversation on Twitter. But it should offer much-needed protection to the platform's most vulnerable users
If it's limiting the ability to *receive* replies to that group, rather than just to *see* them, this is a fundamental change to the underlying platform. Interesting: could be great for abuse/harassment but limits serendipity, could fuel filter bubbles and misinformation bubbles …
every week I will nominate one person who is allowed to reply to my tweets. that person will have the important task of representing the overall sentiment and will of the people in replying either “lol” or “hmm not it” to my tweets https://twitter.com/...
Today in Relative Velocities Seem Huge When You Started at Zero: “Twitter has “picked up the pace” of product development and hopes to continue that pace” https://www.theverge.com/...