Twitter improving brand safety with better community controls

Twitter has launched five new features, all designed to help improve community interaction, give users more protection from online abuse and allow them to control their content better.

The platform wants people to be able to share how they feel with a greater sense of freedom, or without fear that outdated comments might come back to haunt them, and these changes go some way to achieving that goal.

1.Safe mode

Safe mode has been designed to help account holders avoid nasty dog-piles by automatically blocking accounts that harass you.

Jarrod Doherty, Senior Product Manager, Twitter

“When the feature is turned on in your Settings, our systems will assess the likelihood of a negative engagement by considering both the Tweet’s content and the relationship between the Tweet author and replier. Our technology takes existing relationships into account, so accounts you follow or frequently interact with will not be autoblocked.”

If your account is subject to a lot of rage replies to any Tweet, you can switch on Safety Mode and let Twitter shield you from anything nasty via its auto-block function.

Auto block will remain in place for seven days, just to make sure any late-comers to the party don’t slip through the cracks, although admins will be able to review blocked tweets or accounts in their settings.

2.Archive feature

The archive feature will let users auto-archive tweets after 30, 60 or 90 days or hide tweets after a full year. The update would make them invisible to an outside audience.

3.Remove followers

Accounts will now be able to remove profiles from following them. The person won’t be notified of it, but they will be able to re-follow you if they desire.

Twitter support

“We're making it easier to be the curator of your own followers list. Now testing on web: remove a follower without blocking them.

“To remove a follower, go to your profile and click “Followers”, then click the three dot icon and select “Remove this follower”.”

4.Remove yourself from a conversation

Users can untag themselves from any discussion, and gives them the power to avoid being mentioned again in the thread. For brands, this could come especially useful if you’ve been tagged in a thread that contradicts brand values or has the potential to do some reputational damage.

5.Hide tweets you've liked.

One that’s problematic for some users, brands will now be able to hide liked tweets. Some users see the like as a signal of endorsement, other marketers could like tweets as a reminder of tasks to carry out later. Removing liked tweets removes any confusion and helps brands keep their public-facing profiles cleaner.

Why is Twitter launching these?

Twitter is making the changes to make its platform a friendlier, less aggressive place to be. Twitter at its best can be a brilliant platform – it can result in real, meaningful engagement but at its worst, it's a real cesspit.

The update will help to mitigate this. It will also give more control to users, who will now be able to remove any shameful past tweets, remove malicious accounts and help avoid pile-ons.

A value-add for business accounts

Being able to remove followers will help brands and businesses deal with trolls or troublemakers, and it will also help social media managers to conduct follower audits, carry out more precise analytics and increase performance.

Marketers will be able to see who their true, active and engaged followers are and that means they can plan to reach them when they’re most active. Understanding who and how your audience interacts with you, your proper audience, means marketers can make informed decisions.

Additionally, brands that are subject to mass abuse on Twitter will now be able to retreat from the conversation, which could tempt some to be a bit braver in what they say online – although the majority will probably continue to play it safe.

A safety net

All in all, businesses should welcome the change.

Ideally, social media managers and marketers will be providing high-quality, well-thought-out content that doesn’t need protection from the Twitter mob or require them to untag themselves from the conversation, but in the real world, mistakes are made.

The updates give Admins a little more protection from the nastiest the platform can throw at them, plus it allows businesses a safety net of being able to remove any material that could come back to haunt them later.