The micro-blogging site Twitter has released a new feature called “Twitter Soft Block,” which allows any user on the web to remove a follower without blocking them.
To remove a follower, go to your profile and choose “followers,” then the three-dot menu next to a follower, and then “remove this follower.” The follower you remove will not be notified of the change.
Twitter Soft Block: Known as a “hard block” and an “unblock.”
This is not the same as blocking someone, which prevents them from seeing your tweets and direct messaging you (and vice versa).
The new remove follower option on Twitter is more of a remote unfollow button, a kinder approach to distance yourself from someone else on the micro-blogging platform.
Previously, you could do a “soft block” to have someone unfollow you without their knowledge. When done manually, this is known as a “hard block” and an “unblock.”
If you unfollow someone, they must refollow you in order to see your tweets on their timeline, and if you have private tweets (i.e., only viewable by your followers), they will need your consent to become a follower again.
“Conversations like this can be intense”
On iOS and Android, Twitter is also trialing new prompts that notify users before they begin a discussion that might get heated. There’s a prompt dropped into an ongoing conversation in the example above that reads, “conversations like this can be intense.”
The prompts are the company’s latest attempt to reduce the persistent harassment and abuse on the platform.
Instagram has also just released a comparable tool called Limits, which allows users to limit unwanted interactions.
