New Twitter update lets you mute even more trolls
Just be careful you don't filter out everyone.
Twitter, like many internet conversation platforms, is currently struggling to fight hate speech.
But in the meanwhile, Twitter is rolling out a few new tools to help you police your very own feed.
Today, the company has added options (find them in Settings > Notifications > Advanced Filters) that'll let you automatically mute any user 1) who doesn't follow you, or 2) who has a brand-new account. They should be already available on Android, iOS and the web.
These filters join ones that Twitter already rolled out in March, which let you mute users who you don't follow, those who had a default profile photo, or those who hadn't confirmed their email or phone number with the social network.
Basically, there are now six filters in all, and you can enable as many or as few of them as you choose. Just know that online hate may not be the only thing that gets muted -- it could also be tough for genuinely interesting people to get in touch with you if you filter everything out.
Now you have even more control over your notifications. Mute accounts that don't follow you, new accounts, and more. https://t.co/UapP6DtTtY pic.twitter.com/RcBQGx219k
— Twitter Safety (@TwitterSafety) July 10, 2017
Twitter says there's "nothing to share" yet on how well the existing mute options have been working, and a rep declined to comment on how long new Twitter users will need to use the social network before the "new account" filter stops blocking them.
"For much of our safety work, we can't share too many details or people will try to game the system," a Twitter spokesperson wrote by email.
While these tools don't attack the problem at its source, fighting hate speech from the ground up may not be easy -- judging by our new CNET investigation into that dark, nasty side of the internet.