In context: Twitter has become something of a cesspool when it comes to hate and ridicule. Trolls hiding behind the shield of anonymity abound and have very little disincentive to discourage them from attacking or harassing others on the platform. Sometimes users get pulled into toxic conversations just by being mentioned in a tweet they may or may not agree with.
Dominic Camozzi, a designer with Twitter's privacy team, tweeted that they are working on a feature that allows users to "untag" themselves from tweets or replies they would rather not be involved in. When implemented, users will find an "Unmention yourself from this conversation" option in the More (...) menu. Selecting it will unlink their Twitter name from the tweet and prevent it from being used in future replies.
Camozzi adds that the feature will also notify users when someone who does not follow them @ mentions them. They can then unmention themselves from the notification and block the user from mentioning them again. The feature should allow people to quickly put a cap on a toxic situation, especially when a controversial tweet may have gone viral.
There is no timeframe on when Twitter will add the feature. It might not make it at all. Camozzi said the team is in the early stages of development and, for now, is just looking for community feedback on the merits of the idea. If it gains enough traction, Twitter will likely move forward with it. Whether it will be a paid feature like Twitter Blue's "undo tweet" remains to be seen.
Image credit: Sergei Elagin