New Twitter Feature: “Twitter Circle” rolls out to some users

Twitter has now launched a public test of its new “Twitter Circle” feature, which allows users to share tweets with a particular group of friends within the app. “We’re now testing Twitter Circle, which lets you add up to 150 people who can see your tweets when you want to share with a smaller crowd,” the company announced in a tweet. 

From the above video, you can see that the new feature allows users to create a private group chat via tweet, with adjustable audience control that allows you to share tweets with selected people. ” Users can add up to 150 people to their Circle,” Twitter says, “with tweets in the group visible only to the users in that listing.”  Members of Circle are notified via a green indicator attached to each Circle tweet that their tweets are only viewable by members of the group.

According to Twitter, the feature is in its early phases, which is why only a limited number of people have access. Even if you are unable to create a Twitter Circle, you can view tweets from individuals who do, provided you are a member of their Circle. 

When you create your Circle, Twitter will suggest mutuals with whom you connect frequently (odds are, those people might be your close friends). You can add people who are not now following you, but they are unlikely to see your tweet since… they are not currently following you.

When you respond to a tweet sent to their Circle, other members of the Circle can see and interact with your response (unless you’re on private). They will not be notified when you add or delete someone from your Twitter Circle, so don’t worry about mistakenly sending out inappropriate alerts. In comparison to Google+ Circles (RIP), you only get one Circle, so choose wisely.

To tweet to your Circle, click the oval above the text box while composing a tweet and then change the audience to “Twitter Circle,” just like you would with a Community.

The feature is an expansion of Twitter’s reply control feature, which was released in 2020 and allows users to restrict who may view and respond to their tweets. It also fits into the more private discussion use case that Twitter hopes to promote via Communities.

Communities enable users to segment their Twitter audience, allowing them to share more specific discussions with specific groups rather than broadcasting everything to all of their followers at once. This, in theory, will allow Twitter users to engage with a broader range of topics, as they will no longer feel constrained to posting only what they believe their established audience will respond to and enjoy.

It remains to be seen, however, if this works in practice. In my opinion, Circles has a number of issues, including the fact that most people are already using their DMs to hold group chats with their friends and family members. There doesn’t appear to be a compelling incentive for users to switch to the Circles option for talks that they feel more comfortable sharing because of privacy.

Likewise, Twitter users have lists for keeping in touch with their most important connections, or they can simply whittle down their Following list to the most important profiles-so there is no real, practical value or need for Circles in their current form, given that all of the functionality for them already exists in various forms.