It’s been almost a year since Elon Musk took over the social media service formerly known as Twitter, and boy has he made some big changes. That important verification system? Gone. Those once-banned anti-Semites and former presidents? Unbanned. The robust team that sought to zap dangerous misinformation? Gutted. Many of the features that made Twitter popular, including its own name, have now been removed or sanded down. Soon another popular thingmagig — Twitter/X Circles — will vamoose as well. But how long will it remain?
As per The Verge, fans of the Circles feature will bid it adieu on October 31.
After this date, you will not be able to create new posts that are limited to your Circle, nor will you be able to add people to your Circle,” reads a post on the X help center. “You will, however, be able to remove people from your Circle,” with instructions on how to do that.
Launched in August of 2022, Circles allowed users to share posts exclusively with a limited group of people of their choice. Need to post something spicy or controversial or secretive but only for people you trust? Then you only have till month’s end to do that.
Circles debuted mere months before the Musk takeover. By April of 2023, people were reporting that their clandestine Circles were mysteriously appearing in the “For You” timeline, allowing people they don’t want to see those posts to see them.
Confirmed someone I'm not even following was able to see a private Twitter Circle tweet (thank you @TheSahilDev)
This hurts trust in the platform a lot. Should be top priority @TwitterEng pic.twitter.com/BCYPkikJ2p
— Theo – t3.gg (@t3dotgg) April 8, 2023
As usual, Musk and company have not given a reason for deep sixing Circles.
(Via The Verge)