Twitter Considering 'Trusted Friends' Feature

Twitter is considering new features that could help users keep their private and professional lives separate.

The two early ideas were shared Thursday by @a_dsgnr, the account of Twitter designer Andrew Courter, the New York Post reports.

“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,” Courter wrote. “With Trusted Friends, you could Tweet to a group of your choosing. Perhaps you could also see trusted friends’ Tweets first.” 

One concept, known as “Trusted Friends,” would allow users to send tweets to a select group of friends or followers only.

It’s similar to Instagram’s “Close Friends” feature for Stories, in that users would no longer have to switch accounts to tweet at their intended audience and be able to select specific users for that audience.

Another concept for a new feature, “Facets,” would let people take on different personas using the same account. Others would be able to follow the entire account, or just the “facet” they are interested in.

In another tweet, Courter wrote, “Here’s another approach, embracing an obvious truth: we’re different people in different contexts (w/ friends, fam, work, public) Facets, an early idea, lets you Tweet from distinct personas within 1 acct. Others can follow the whole acct … or just Facets they’re interested in.”

The designer tweeted that Twitter Design is exploring a bunch of ways to control who can see your Tweets when sharing the ideas and seeking feedback, but mentioned they are not yet building these.

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