Twitter is providing its users with a better understanding
of privacy settings and options, with a bunch of new features that it is
currently testing.
The social media company is testing new prompts for when users
change their privacy settings, to notify them about what the particular change in
the settings means or does. For instance, if a user with a private account
replies to someone who isn’t following them, a prompt would show up, reminding
them that their reply won’t be seen unless they switch to Public.
Such prompts are meant to provide users with different contexts
of privacy options in terms of their broader Twitter usage. This could be
especially helpful for users with private accounts, so that in case their
tweets become public because of a reply, they are notified of the change.
The next feature includes a more transparent way of switching accounts, which would appear in the tweet composer window. This would help users see if they are tweeting from the right account.
Twitter is also experimenting with new audience controls for
tweets to reduce the need for multiple accounts, which would ultimately reduce
the need for switching accounts.
An in-stream overview of various privacy settings is also
being considered by the company to make users more aware of their privacy controls.
This would help users understand the various ways they can limit their tweet
audience.
Lastly, Twitter is testing a way to maximize awareness around
the discoverability settings. This would help users be more aware of any suspicious
or unwanted activity surrounding their profiles. Users would get alerts about how
their profile is being discovered and would be prompted to change settings if needed.
Twitter already has a well-defined set of privacy options
and controls. However, since their context is not quite visible to the users,
the company is considering increasing transparency around these settings to
help users better understand and control them.
