After four grueling months of testing, Twitter finally announces that it’s making its new ‘Safety Mode’ feature available to more users. It would seem that this feature has been long requested by many users, so this expanded rollout must be welcome news indeed.
Check out the official Tweet by @TwitterSafety and watch a couple of teaser videos.
Safety First
To clarify, Safety Mode does not grant you the physical ability to shut people up in real life; it’s not an idea you can just rip from a sci-fi movie or novel and suddenly make it real. Rather, it’s restricted to Twitter and isn’t really a superpower of any kind. I guess what we’re trying to say is that despite the name, it’s not the most comprehensive ‘security’ option available.
At best, Safety Mode is essentially auto-block at scale, based on Twitter’s automated system detection, which may not be the best, but is at least better than most.
To get to the Safety Mode option, first, go into your ‘Privacy and Safety’ options in the app. Since this is but an expanded rollout, lucky users would be able to see a ‘Safety Mode’ option now available. If enabled, Safety Mode will automatically block “problematic” accounts for 7 days. Problematic accounts in this context are accounts that heavily make use of harsh and offensive language, as well as those that have continuously exhibited spam-like behavior, such as sending you repetitive, unresponded replies or @mentions.
The main idea behind Safety Mode is that it can help users avoid negative impacts. For example, if you start receiving loads of replies to a controversial Tweet (regardless of your intentions), you can simply switch Safety Mode on and Twitter’s system will shield you from those mentions. Given that Twitter’s ‘Rage Cycle’ only lasts for a few hours, it’s likely to take only a day for things to totally blow over. So, if you ever mess up and accidentally interact with a thread you didn’t mean to, Safety Mode could help alleviate some of the psychological stress associated with on-platform pile-ons and abuse.
Likewise, it could also help some users avoid accountability, allowing them to somewhat circumvent the consequences of their actions on the app. However, this does seem less likely of a concern, because people that do opt to share controversial opinions do so to see what kind of responses they would get.
The Wrap
Safety mode seems more suited for people who’ve unintentionally stumbled across discussions outside of their comfort zones and those that are more at risk of being ‘canceled’ by the Twitter mob. This could and does happen, especially when it comes to voicing out opinions. What sounds logical and reasonable to you might not be to others.
Once reTweets and mentions start to pile up, it can get rather stressful, especially once you start considering the broader effects on your standing and reputation. Despite there not being any real and long-lasting impacts, most people just don’t want to be the focus of ire, making Safety Mode a good if albeit temporary solution.
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