Twitter is trying out a new feature to help you identify harrassers
Ever been the subject of unwanted attention on Twitter? Chances are, if you’ve ever expressed an opinion, mentioned something vaguely political or even committed the cardinal sin of being a woman, you’ve gotten messages from people you don’t know.
Twitter is now trialling a new feature which could help you make smarter choices about who you engage with. They’re currently testing a preview profile feature in the social media giant’s iOS app that’ll let people see more about a user by tapping on a user’s handle in a tweet, without having to leave where you are.
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It’ll show you basic details like their bio, picture, and follower count, where you can choose whether to pull back to what you were doing or go in for a closer look at their full profile. This should make it easier to see who’s involved with an account, or get a sense of who might be a bot or even a serial harasser.
As always with Twitter stories, it’s worth mentioning that it would be better for Twitter to add more tools to combat harassment internally before they push the burden onto users, but any level of extra protection for users has to be appreciated, even if, again, the burden should really be more on Twitter to make a safer environment.
The test has already been rolled out to several users of the app, so there’s a chance you might have even been put into it. If this works for the iOS app, there’s the possibility it could come to Android too, although that hasn’t yet been talked about in the wild.
We’re testing an easier way to check out profiles on iOS without leaving your timeline! Simply tap any @ handle in a Tweet, take a peek, follow, and get right back to it. Let us know what you think! pic.twitter.com/dIUFxI2r4C
— Twitter (@Twitter) February 13, 2019
Are you in Twitter’s new beta? How’re you finding it? Let us know using the app itself: we’re at @TrustedReviews
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
