Twitter is testing a new feature that will warn users when they’re about to enter an “intense” conversation, in an attempt to limit the abuse that has become rife on the platform.
As part of the trial, the social media platform is dropping a notice under potentially heated debates that reads: “Heads up. Conversations like this can be intense.” For those who go to join the conversation, another pop-up will appear, which says: “Let’s look out for each other.” It then offers three points for users to consider before typing a reply: “Remember the human. Facts matter. Diverse perspectives have value.”
Announcing the feature on – you guessed it – Twitter, the platform wrote: “Ever want to know the vibe of a conversation before you join in? We’re testing prompts on Android and iOS that give you a heads up if the convo you’re about to enter could get heated or intense. This is a work in progress as we learn how to better support healthy conversation.”
The move is the latest in Twitter’s attempt to make the platform a less hostile place to be. Last month, the site tested an anti-troll tool, which automatically blocked accounts sending abuse to users. It also trialled a soft block feature, enabling users to remove followers without blocking them.
In January last year, Twitter rolled out four new features that empowered users to control who can respond to their posts. If you want to tweet a controversial opinion and receive no replies, you can simply block people from responding. Alternatively, you can set it so just tagged people, followers, or those mentioned in the tweet can reply. Before this, the site let its users hide certain replies to their tweets, and automatically hid responses it detected as abusive.
See the newest feature in action below.