Twitter says it’s experimenting with ‘unmentioning’

Twitter is experimenting with an “unmentioning” feature that will allow users to remove themselves from conversations. It’s limited to some users and only on the web version for now but looks like a very useful way to clean up your mentions. “We’re experimenting with Unmentioning—a way to help you protect your peace and remove yourself from conversations,” the tweet reads. The company posted a short GIF of what the feature will look like to its Twitter Safety account. The “leave this conversation” option will appear on the menu that pops out of the corner of a tweet on the web version of Twitter. (It includes the “mute” and “embed” options as well.) Clicking the “leave this conversation” option brings up another menu that details what happens when you leave a conversation: your username gets untagged, it stops any future mentions in that conversation, and, perhaps most importantly, it will stop notifications. Twitter researcher and reverse-engineer Jane Manchun Wong tweeted an apparent screenshot of the “leave this conversation” feature in February. As is often the case, her sleuthing proved correct. The choice to escape a tweet conversation that may have become hostile, simply uninteresting, or that you didn’t want to be part of in the first place is a welcome addition to Twitter, especially for those who experience harassment on the platform. It lets you make a graceful exit without a lot of fanfare.