Twitter has started testing Communities, a feature similar to Facebook Groups, that lets users tweet directly to a group rather than all the followers.
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Communities enable users to tweet to people with similar interests and only members in the same community can reply and join the conversation.
However, Community pages and timelines are publicly available for anyone to 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,” Twitter said in a blog post.
Communities work in a manner similar to how any group is created on a social media platform. Moderators choose the focus area, create community rules, and invite people to have conversations and share ideas.
As of yet, anyone who wishes to be a part of a community must be invited by the moderator or any other members via Direct messages, but Twitter noted it will add more ways to find and join communities.
According to initial data from communities, people are said to be discussing about dogs, weather, sneakers, skincare, and astrology.
To keep the space safe, Twitter has added the ability for anyone to report any potential violations of the Twitter Rules on Communities to Twitter. All Community moderators are approved by Twitter and they have to meet the company’s eligibility requirements as Twitter continues to refine the conditions.
Users can access Communities with 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.
Twitter has updated its app with multiple features in the past few months. It rolled out subscription-based super follows and live audio chat rooms in a bid to update the platform to catch up with the rivals. The move to test Communities is yet another step in that direction.
