Twitter Communities is being tested. This was posted via a blog post with extracts below.
There’s always been a broad, weird and wonderful range of conversations on Twitter, but we haven’t done enough to help connect people who are into the same things. And now, that’s changing. Starting today, we’re testing Communities, a way to easily find and connect with people who want to talk about the same things you do.
Tweet to your Community
Some conversations aren’t for everyone, just the people who want to talk about the thing you want to talk about. When you join a Community, you can Tweet directly to that group instead of to all your followers. Only members in the same Community are able to reply and join the conversation so it stays intimate and relevant.
While you can Tweet only to your Community for a focused conversation, Community pages and timelines are publicly available so anyone can read, Quote Tweet, and report Community Tweets. We want to continue to support public conversation and help people find Communities that match their interests, while also creating a more intimate space for conversation.
Creating, moderating, and finding Communities
With Communities, moderators pick the focus, create the Community rules, and invite the people who will make it a great place for conversation. Think of Communities as places created for conversation where the vibe and tone is set by people who share the same interests and want to have relevant conversations.
Moderators set the Community rules and can also invite others to moderate their space to keep things on track and focused.
Right now, Community creation is limited but in the coming months, we’ll allow more people to create Communities so everyone can talk about their thing, whatever it is. Some of the initial Communities we’re testing surround popular conversations on Twitter.
Examples include dogs, weather, sneakers, skincare, and astrology, with many more to come, reflecting more of the thriving and niche discussions on Twitter. You can let us know if you’re interested in creating a Community here. Right now, you have to be invited to a Community by a moderator or another member, but we’ll be adding more ways to discover and join Communities soon.
Supporting healthy conversations in Communities
Here’s what we’re doing to make Communities feel healthy initially, with more to come:
- Communities are publicly visible so everyone can see what’s being discussed.
- All Communities and their members must follow the Twitter Rules. Both members and non-members of Communities can report any potential violations of the Twitter Rules to Twitter.
- All moderators have to continuously meet our eligibility requirements, including not violating the Twitter Rules. As we open up Community creation and moderation to more people, we’ll continue to refine eligibility requirements. As we test initially, Community moderators are approved by Twitter.
- Adapting our Twitter Rules and enforcement actions to keep people safe with Communities. This includes developing ways to proactively identify potentially problematic Communities, new reporting flows, and bespoke enforcement actions.
We’ll continue to do research, scenario plan, and work with outside experts including our Trust and Safety Council to keep people safe with Communities.
This is just the start for Communities – we’ll test, learn, and iterate based on your feedback. Members can access Communities through the dedicated tab at the bottom of the app for iOS, or in the sidebar on Twitter.com.
People can read Community Tweets on Twitter for Android too with more functionality coming soon. Anyone globally can be invited to join a Community via Direct Messages.
