Twitter is currently running a test where you can make certain tweets private

While the rest of the world wonders about when and how Elon Musk’s Twitter acquisition is going to go through, the company is carrying on with its product tests. So far, we’ve gotten a glimpse of how the edit tweets feature might work. Now, the platform has announced limited testing for something they call ‘Twitter Circle’.

Twitter Circle works similar to how Instagram’s ‘Close Friends’ feature works. It lets you pick up to 150 people to add to your Circle. This can include people who follow you and also those who do not (just like it is on Instagram). Once you’ve created your Circle, if you feel like tweeting without sharing that post with everyone, you can pull up the ‘Choose Audience’ menu as you write the tweet and select ‘Twitter Circle’ instead of ‘Everyone’.

Twitter says this is different from how its Communities work. Twitter Communities hides tweets to prevent a “context collapse” since those tweets are tied to a particular conversation. In the case of Twitter Circle, it is just about hiding standard tweets from people who are not in your Circle.

Essentially it is just a way of getting some privacy on the platform without actually turning your Twitter account into a locked one. People who are in your Circle can see the tweet you’ve chosen to share to the restricted group, but they will not be able t0 use the retweet function to share them on the platform with others. Of course, screenshots and downloading media/content is still possible.

Twitter has also made it clear that just because the public at large cannot see the tweets you’ve shared with the Circle, that does not mean that platform rules do not apply to you. You will still be banned for abusive behaviour, content, or anything else that breaks Twitter rules. Also, if you are a part of a Circle, you cannot remove yourself from it. You can always mute a tweet though if you aren’t interested in it or the discussion that follows.

Twitter has been working on this feature for about a year now, it first popped up with the “Trusted Friends” and “Face” branding, and as “Flock” earlier this year. Only a few Twitter users have access to Twitter Circle for now and can create a single Circle on the platform to test it. Only the person creating the Circle can see the people in it. The feature is available to the select testers on iOS, Android, and the web.

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