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Twitter – though not the biggest of the social media giants – has been making some big changes recently. From announcing that they will be bringing podcasts to the site to offering live shopping, Twitter is trying to expand in any direction they believe to be profitable or draw more people into using the app.
Just recently Twitter announced Twitter Circle. Though the new feature is similar to Facebook groups, it does work a little differently. Twitter started testing the circle feature back in May, allowing only a select few to use it.
The feature allows users to add up to 150 people into a circle. When the user sends out a tweet, they have the option to only share it with their circle or make it public. You can easily remove or add people to the circle without them being alerted as well.
Any changes made to your circle are not announced either so you’d be the only one that knows if you removed or added someone. Also, it doesn’t hurt this takes out the hassle of switching between public and private accounts. According to Twitter, the feedback for testing was overall positive.
A lot of great things can come from this new feature. People can feel more comfortable sharing their opinions and thoughts with close friends without having to worry about being judged by strangers. Work buddies and groups can have easier chit-chat without someone taking up a wall of text (thank you Twitter for a horrible character limit).
Or even if you have a special announcement that you’d like to only share with a few family and friends, this is a welcome option. This is also a great option for people who have groups of friends that are all into the same craft or club.
However, this feature could cause some problems too. If you are added to a Circle, Twitter stated you cannot directly leave the circle yourself if you don’t want to be in one. There is a concern about adding people to a circle to be bullied and they don’t have the means to remove themselves from a toxic environment.
Or if you are added to a group by a co-worker or friend and there is someone in that circle who is insulting you in the comments, the only option currently available is to block the person who put you in the circle to be removed if they don’t do it themselves. But if the circle owner isn’t the problem some people may not want to take that step.
The use of the circle across Twitter and its effects remain to be seen as the feature has only been available to all Twitter users as of August 30th.
