Twitter Confirms It's Working On a 'Hide Tweet' Feature

An anonymous reader quotes a report from TechCrunch: Twitter today confirmed it's developing a new 'Hide Tweet' feature, which it says will give users another option to protect their conversations. The option, spotted in Twitter's code, is available from a list of moderation choices that appear when you click the 'Share' button on a tweet -- a button whose icon has also been given a refresh, it seems. Like it sounds, 'Hide Tweet' functions as an alternative to muting or blocking a user, while still offering some control over a conversation. Related to this, an option to 'View Hidden Tweets' was also found to be in the works. This allows a user to unhide those tweets that were previously hidden by the original poster.

Immediately, there were concerns that an option like this would allow users to silence their critics -- not just for themselves, as is possible today with muting and blocking -- but for anyone reading through a stream of Twitter Replies. Imagine, for example, if a controversial politician began to hide tweets they didn't like or those that contradicted an outrageous claim with a fact check, people said. It also requires the user to click to view the Replies that were hidden, which some users may not know to do and others may not bother to do. They may then miss out on an important point in the conversation, or a critical fact check. On the flip side, putting the original poster back in control of which Replies are visible may allow people to feel more comfortable with sharing on Twitter, which could impact user growth -- a number Twitter struggles with today. And it could encourage people to debate things with less vitriol, knowing that their nastier tweets could get hidden view. The 'Hide Tweet' feature was first discovered by Jane Manchun Wong.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.