In September, we had reported that Twitter was testing a new “soft block” feature, which would let you remove a follower without blocking them. More than a month later, Twitter is finally rolling out the new feature to provide users with greater control over their follower lists.
This feature is available on the web version of Twitter and is the latest privacy tool rolled out by the company in recent times. Once a follower is removed, they will not be able to see your tweets on your feed. If you want to remove a follower, go to your profile and click on Followers, click on the three-doted icon, and select “Remove this Follower.”
You might have to wait for the launch of this feature on Android and iOS since the company has not mentioned when this “soft block” feature will be coming to mobile. For now, you will have to use Twitter on the web if you want to use this feature and “soft block” followers.
If you are wondering why you should “soft block” someone instead of blocking someone altogether, then the simplest answer is that it will help avoid ugly confrontations – a blocked person will know that they are blocked once they go to your profile, but the person you have “soft blocked” will not be notified of that change. This is a step up from what Twitter users have been doing so far – swiftly blocking and unblocking someone to remove them from their follower list.
Not only will this feature give users more control over their follower lists, but this will also help in curbing abuse and harassment. Twitter has been accused of being a toxic place several times, and in recent times, the company has been focussing on online safety and reducing online trolls.
