Twitter tests Unmentioning with some users on the web, letting users select “leave this conversation” on a tweet to avoid notifications
Twitter might not have an edit button just yet, but it's still delivering at least one useful feature this week.
EngadgetJon Fingas
Context & Ripple Effects
Twitter had already sought feedback on unmentioning as an anti-abuse control, positioning the feature as a way for people to manage unwanted attention rather than as a change to public posting rules. The web test turns that proposal into a usable conversation-level setting.
The subsequent rollout across all devices shows this test was part of a broader product path. Later testing of controls over who can mention an account extends the same approach from exiting a thread to limiting who can initiate one.
First-order effects
Selected web users can remove themselves from a conversation and stop receiving its notifications, giving them an immediate exit from unwanted replies that use their handle.
Twitter gains live product feedback on a feature it had previously framed around abuse and unwanted attention.
Second-order effects
A successful web test gives Twitter a basis to extend unmentioning beyond the initial cohort, as its later all-device rollout did.
Conversation participants and people who mention others retain the public thread, but can no longer rely on notifications to keep an unwillingly tagged account engaged.
Third-order effects
Alongside Twitter's later mention-permission test, unmentioning points to interaction controls becoming more granular: users can manage both exposure after a tag and, potentially, who can tag them in the first place.
The trend: Twitter is moving safety tooling toward user-controlled boundaries around mentions and participation, rather than relying only on platform-wide moderation decisions.
How do you say “Don't @ me,” without saying “Don't @ me”? We're experimenting with Unmentioning—a way to help you protect your peace and remove yourself from conversations—available on Web for some of you now. https://twitter.com/...