What you need to know
- Twitter has finally rolled out the ability to untag yourself from conversations you don't want to participate in.
- The platform began testing the new feature with a small group of users earlier this year.
- Everyone can now "unmention" themselves from any conversation in which they have been tagged.
Twitter's mention feature is useful for sharing, but the problem arises when toxic conversations begin pushing notifications on your phone. The service has finally addressed this quandary by introducing the ability to remove yourself from unwanted discussions.
The new feature, aptly called "unmentioning," is now available to everyone following a limited testing period earlier this year. Twitter announced the new capability in a tweet.
As you might expect, it allows you to leave a conversation and stop receiving notifications about it. The new feature makes it easier to limit how other users interact with your account. More importantly, it helps you see yourself out when you're caught up in an annoying conversation.
To untag yourself, simply open the thread in which you've been mentioned and then tap on the three-dot menu. From there, you'll have the option to leave the conversation.
Before finally unmentioning yourself, you'll see a page that explains what happens after you exit a discussion. Your username remains visible in that conversation, but it'll be grayed out. This means it is no longer linked to your account. People will also be unable to mention you again in the same thread, and notifications will end. That said, you can still view the conversation.
Below the unmention button is the option to stay in the conversation, assuming you've had a change of mind.
Once you've left, there's no way to tag your account back into the same conversation. So, give it a second thought if you're considering leaving a thread for good.
Twitter's latest update is just the latest in a series of new improvements aimed at reducing harassment on the platform. The service already allows you to restrict who can reply to your tweets. This was launched last year after a few months of testing. It also has a safety mode that allows you to auto-block accounts that use offensive language or send unwanted messages.
