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There are two Twitter feature updates worth your attention this month: new Reply settings, and more context coming to Twitter Trends.

How to change your Tweet conversation settings

Since rolling out in August (after being tested since May), the “Who can reply?” setting on Tweets has allwoed Twitter users to have more control over who can post threaded replies to their Tweets. You can choose between Everyone, People you follow, and Only people you mention.

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Why it matters

This feature is meant to help people feel more safe and comfortable on a platform that isn’t exactly known for politeness.

More context coming to Twitter Trends

Pinned tweets and descriptions are now being added to the topics that show up as Trends on Twitter. This update is aimed at helping users make sense of a trend:

“A combination of algorithms and our curation team determine if a Tweet represents a trend by evaluating if the Tweet is very reflective of the trend and popular.”

— Twitter

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Why it matters

According to Twitter, over half a million Tweets asked the question “why is this trending?” last year. This new feature is part of a broader effort to clarify how Twitter works and what’s happening outside of the character limit (especially around contentious topics in the politics and news).

This push for transparency is happening on most social media platforms, in order to help users feel more comfortable online.

Related News

This month, we’ve also got you covered on these important social media news items:

Blog

Twitter adding new Reply settings, plus Trend context

Introducing NewNew, a new social network like “TikTok meets Facebook”

TikTok’s new Stitch feature lets users build off of other videos

Facebook Campus - A separate, student-focused Facebook

Also in the news:

• TikTok has chosen Oracle as U.S. ‘technology partner,’ rejecting Microsoft’s bid (Washington Post)

• Facebook launches free 'paid online events' for SMBs and others (Search Engine Land)

• Celebs Are Quitting Facebook And Instagram For A Day To Protest Hate Speech (BuzzFeed News)

• Introducing a Forwarding Limit on Messenger (FB News)

• Introducing New Online Courses For Community Building (FB Community blog)

• Introducing New Authenticity Measures on Instagram (IG blog)

• Announcing More Access to Instagram Checkout and New Shops Features (IG blog)

• 5 Companies Driving the Diversity Discussion on LinkedIn (LinkedIn talent blog)

• How Netflix Adjusted Its Employer Branding to Reflect the Current Reality (LinkedIn talent blog)

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