Twitter has introduced a new Circle feature that makes it possible to share Tweets with fewer people, bridging the gap between having a private account and a public account. This is one of the latest attempts by Twitter to offer users additional ways to choose who and how they share posts on the platform with.
Like most social media sites, Twitter has come under fire for the way it handles moderation, the content it allows to exist on the platform, and the content it doesn’t permit. This has not only led to a ban on various accounts, but also Elon Musk agreeing a deal to buy Twitter. While that deal continues to go through the closing motions, it looks like Twitter is continuing to roll out new features.
The latest is Circles. A Twitter Circle is similar to a Community in the sense that any posts shared are not shared with everyone on Twitter. However, where it differs from a Community, is that Circle members don’t need to join. Instead, any Twitter user with access to Circles can choose who the Circle members are, even if they are not followers, and share a post only with them. Twitter likens the feature to having a protected account without actually having a protected account. For reference, Circle is currently still in a testing phrase, so although some may have access to it, others won’t.
Here’s How A Twitter Circle Works
Just like they cannot manually join a Circle, a Twitter user cannot leave one either. Again, this is different from a Community where the member can opt out based on their interest at the time. Instead, and as Twitter explains, who is and isn’t a Circle member is completely determined by the creator of the Circle. Each Circle can contain up to 150 members and each Twitter account can only have one Circle at a time. Circle members also cannot see who else is included in the same Circle, and they don’t have the ability to retweet a Tweet shared with a Circle, although they can like or comment if they want.
While Circle members are unable to opt out, that doesn’t mean they won’t have any control over the experience. For example, they are able to mute the conversation if they don’t want to take part in it. Overall, Twitter’s new Circle feature works very similar to ‘Close Friends’ on Instagram, which also allows users to create a private list of people that a post is only shared with.
