Twitter May Soon Let You Tweet to Only Your "Trusted Friends"

It isn't uncommon these days for an active Twitter user to juggle a few different accounts for various purposes. In fact, the platform allows you to log into multiple accounts at once on one device for seamless switching between them.

While the user experience isn't necessarily bad, you kind of get the feeling that this process feels like it could be streamlined a little more.

What If You Could Choose Who Sees Your Tweets?

Twitter designer Andrew Courter (@a_dsgnr) has revealed some early design concepts of potential new features. If you're looking to keep your personal and professional lives separate on the microblogging platform, you'll probably be stoked to hear about these.

The first concept is called Trusted Friends, which would function on Twitter similarly to selecting an audience on a Facebook post, or choosing between your public and Close Friends stories on Instagram.

We hear y'all, toggling your Tweets from public to protected, juggling alt accounts. It could be simpler to talk to who you want, when you want.

With Trusted Friends, you could Tweet to a group of your choosing. Perhaps you could also see trusted friends' Tweets first. pic.twitter.com/YxBPkEESfo
— A Designer (@a_dsgnr) July 1, 2021

You would be able to tweet something that only your Trusted Friends will see, as well as opt to see your Trusted Friends' tweets on your timeline first.

This could be a good compromise for Twitter users that want to use the same account to both keep a public following and communicate with only their real-life friends.

But if that approach doesn't appeal to you, Courter also shared screenshots of Facets, a feature that would allow you to choose between different personas—all of which are linked to a singular Twitter account.

Your followers would be able to choose whether they want to follow your whole account or only the Facets they're interested in.

Alternatively, You Could Set Your Own Boundaries

Another feature that Twitter may eventually add is the ability to fiddle with Reply Preferences. You'd be able to set phrases that you'd rather not see in your tweet replies, and if users type it out, it'll get highlighted, with a little explanation as to why.

Here’s how it’d work:

• Authors choose the phrases they prefer not to see
• These phrases are highlighted as ppl write replies; ppl can learn why, or ignore the guidance
• Authors can enable automatic actions, like moving violating replies to the bottom of the convo pic.twitter.com/VzxU6D7eMf
— A Designer (@a_dsgnr) July 1, 2021

Now, that little orange notice probably wouldn't stop anyone intent on sending you rude messages on Twitter (they'd likely ignore it altogether), but it could prevent users from accidentally using language that would make you uncomfortable.

Courter says you'd also be able to enable automatic actions, like moving replies that ignore your preferences to the bottom of the conversation.

Let Twitter Know What You Think It Should Add Next

Out of all the major social media platforms, it seems as though we know more about what's on Twitter's mind than any other. Whether that be due to official staff cluing us in, or an app researcher digging into the code to find these features before anyone else.

If you want to see any of these design concepts become official Twitter features, be sure to leave your feedback on the Twitter thread in question.