Twitter working on new prompt to warn users of ‘heated’ conversations

Twitter has revealed a new prompt that could be shown to users before they engage or reply to a particular tweet, warning them that the conversation could get intense and heated. Here’s what you need to know about the upcoming feature.

Twitter is working on the feature to inform users when a conversation could get too heated or intense, and remind users to look out for each other on the platform.  (Twitter Support)

Twitter has announced a new feature that the company has been working on, to inform people in advance that a conversation could be ‘intense'. The company is currently testing prompts for its apps on Android and iOS, that would inform users about a conversation that could get heated. The company says it is working on the feature as part of its efforts to “better support healthy conversation” on the platform.

These new prompts from Twitter sound like a long-overdue feature, and could prove very useful on the microblogging platform that (like every other open platform) is affected by harassment and abuse. “Ever want to know the vibe of a conversation before you join in?” the company's support account tweeted on Wednesday. The company says that the criteria for checking which tweets the prompts appear on could change as the company works on the feature.

The company shared an image of the feature in action, showing a tweet with multiple quote tweets and a reply under it, as an example of a tweet that might have received contentious replies. Under the regular tweet action bar with the reply, retweet, like and share buttons, Twitter showed off the new prompt which says “Heads up” followed by “Conversations like this can be intense”. According to the company, the service might consider the topic of the tweet and the relationship between the tweet author and the person replying to display the prompt.

Twitter also shared another view of a pop-up card that shows up on the same sample tweet, that tells users to “remember the human”, that “facts matter” and that “diverse perspectives have value”. It also contains a link to the Twitter Rules and has a button titled “Count me in”. At the moment, it is hard to tell whether this prompt shows up when users tap the reply button or when they tap the previous blue prompt, and users will likely see this arrive in a future update.

It is important to note that while Twitter is currently working on this feature to improve conversations on the platform, it isn't the first attempt by the company to add prompts to the service. One such feature is already available to users – the prompt that shows up asking you if you want to read an article before retweeting.

Similarly, it has also been working on a feature that could ask users to stop and think before they tweet something offensive. It remains to be seen whether this prompt is added in its current state, or whether the company refines the design or the criteria that will decide when it is displayed, before it is finally released to the public.