Twitter Plans New Privacy Features

Twitter Inc. will test some new privacy features that provide users with more control over their followers' lists and who can see their posts and likes, as part of a plan to make users more comfortable with their interactions.

"Social Privacy" is what Twitter executives are calling it, and the features include the ability to edit followers' lists, archive old tweets so that other users can't see them after a set period, and others. This last feature promises to be a more popular feature among users who would prefer a time-limited online presence.

Staff researcher at Twitter, Svetlana Pimkina, said that the company's internal research has found out that many users don't really understand the privacy basics, meaning that they don't know what other people can see about them. 

Users have needs, especially in privacy, and when these needs are not met, then people will have a smaller tendency to self-express. This prompted the company's privacy team to work on several products to address some of these issues, some of which are being tested, while others are still in the "concept" stage.