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Twitter Communities

What’s Twitter’s new Communities feature?

Twitter Communities

What’s Twitter’s new Communities feature?

Social media site Twitter has announced it will be rolling out a new feature that will allow people to discuss their favourite topics.

Called Communities, the new offering takes the form of groups in which people can talk about shared interests. Two examples of Communities that are live are the Astrology Community and the Weather Community.

In a Community, anyone can read the discussions taking place, but only members can contribute. Currently, to become a member, a user must be invited by a moderator. These moderators have the ability to choose the focus of a Community, create its rules and hide any tweets found to be breaking those rules. Oddly, they can’t actually remove any members, though Twitter has explained that this functionality is in the works. If a Community is found to be breaking any rules, people who aren’t members are allowed to report it.

As the feature is currently being tested out, only a limited number of people can create Communities, and anyone interested in doing so must submit an interest form. However, Twitter has stated that, in the coming months, more of its users will be able to create Communities of their own.

In the announcement of the feature, Twitter described Communities as places of conversation where the tone and atmosphere is set by users who share interests, and it certainly seems similar to Facebook’s Groups and Reddit, to name just two examples of online communities that are organised around topics.

Not all responses to the announcement have been positive, however. Some users have questioned whether Communities will indeed support “healthy” conversations, or whether they will simply turn into echo chambers of specific points of view – viewpoints that may not be wholly positive:

https://twitter.com/ErenPolat_BJK/status/1435651111768182788?

Until Communities are widely rolled out, it is unknown whether they will be platforms to reinforce specific viewpoints or platforms that host healthy debate. It’s always worth businesses keeping an eye on developments like this, as they provide yet another way to connect with potential customers and contacts – with the Communities being split into topics, businesses will be able to directly communicate with people that have interests similar to their own.

Here at Engage Web, we can help businesses make the most of the internet, reaching new audiences and driving sales through a whole host of digital marketing strategies. To learn more, give us a call today.

Emily Jones

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