Twitter's new muting controls make it easier to avoid trolls

Abuse, harassment and trolling on Twitter is a serious problem, and something that sees many users -- celebrities in particular -- forced off the site. Having already introduced a quality filter to help reduce unwanted content, Twitter is now making it possible to block notifications from various types of account, such as those that don’t follow you.

As an extra safeguard, you can opt to block notifications from new accounts, thereby helping to avoid the problem of trolls who bypass blocks by signing up under a new username. The "advanced filter settings" are available online as well as in the iOS and Android apps.

The move by Twitter is the latest in a range of measures designed to stamp out the problem of cyberbullying and abuse after the social network faced criticism for failing to protect its users.

Twitter announced that it is now possible to mute not only the accounts of people who don’t follow you, but also those that have just been created:

Now you have even more control over your notifications. Mute accounts that don't follow you, new accounts, and more. https://t.co/UapP6DtTtY pic.twitter.com/RcBQGx219k

— Twitter Safety (@TwitterSafety) July 10, 2017

Over on its support pages, there are full details of the types of account that can be muted:

• Accounts that are new (that you don’t follow).
• Accounts that don’t follow you (that you don’t follow).
• Accounts you don’t follow.
• Accounts with a default profile photo (that you don’t follow).
• Accounts without a confirmed email address (that you don’t follow).
• Accounts without a confirmed phone number (that you don’t follow).

While the latest change may not completely eradicate problems, it should go some way to reducing what has become a serious irritation.

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