Shut up already: Twitter rolling out new 'mute' feature

News
By
published

When a good old block is too harsh?

Tweetdeck mute
Silence, tweeters!

Twitter has seemingly begun rolling out a mute button in its iOS and Android apps.

Not all users have access to the mute feature, but if you just can't wait to really effectively ignore that annoying relative or naggy co-worker then you should keep an eye out in the coming days for it to arrive.

Muting a Twitter user hides their tweets and re-tweets from your timeline, but isn't as harsh as blocking or even just un-following someone since they can't tell you've done it.

And unlike many of Twitter's other recent changes, this is actually a welcome addition.

Better than nothing

Mute features are common to Twitter clients and apps like Tweetdeck (which Twitter bought in 2011) and Tweetbot, the latter of which even lets users set timed mutes that expire after set amounts of time.

This lets users mute people just for the length of TV show episodes or sports games that they don't want spoiled for them, for example. Twitter's feature doesn't go so far, but it's better than nothing.

It's definitely a more welcome addition than Twitter's new Facebook-like layout and its new, more prominent timeline ads.

At least Twitter's picture tagging and Cover acquisition might be steps in the right direction.

We've asked Twitter to confirm that it's rolling out a mute feature and when and where it will arrive. We'll update this article if we hear anything useful back.

Michael Rougeau
Michael Rougeau

Michael Rougeau is a former freelance news writer for TechRadar. Studying at Goldsmiths, University of London, and Northeastern University, Michael has bylines at Kotaku, 1UP, G4, Complex Magazine, Digital Trends, GamesRadar, GameSpot, IFC, Animal New York, @Gamer, Inside the Magic, Comic Book Resources, Zap2It, TabTimes, GameZone, Cheat Code Central, Gameshark, Gameranx, The Industry, Debonair Mag, Kombo, and others.

Micheal also spent time as the Games Editor for Playboy.com, and was the managing editor at GameSpot before becoming an Animal Care Manager for Wags and Walks.